CPampus resswatch “Judicial systems must condemn white vigilantes like Rittenhouse”, By Julie Ha, Pipe Dream, 12/09/21 “In August 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse, who was 17 years old at the time, joined counter-protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin at a Black Lives Matter protest against police brutality.” Already one sentence into the article and we already have the first signs of misinformation! Rittenhouse was not a counter-protester; Rittenhouse was in Kenosha after previous nights’ destruction when the protests devolved into rioting, where some of the things he actually did include cleaning up graffiti, protecting a business at the request of the owners (although admittedly accounts differ about this), and providing first aid. To state that he was there to “counter-protest” is hardly truthful. “Rittenhouse, hailing from Illinois, was among the group of men who traveled across state lines on the third night of protests, ready to allegedly protect the city’s businesses from rioters.” He TrAvElEd AcRoSs StAtE lInEs! It’s important to note that Rittenhouse had family in Kenosha, with him traveling across state lines regularly from Antioch (which is only 20 miles away from Kenosha) because of this. The rifle had never crossed state lines; it was in Kenosha. Lastly, again, he didn’t “allegedly” protect businesses, but was seen cleaning graffiti, putting out fires, and protecting a business. Another sign of disingenuous framing. “Six minutes later, the footage shows a group of protesters, including Rosenbaum, chasing after Rittenhouse when an unknown gunman fired into the air.” First, you conveniently leave out details such as the fact that Rosenbaum had previously given a death threat
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while armed with a chain against Rittenhouse and was very belligerent at the time, according to testimonies from the trial. Second (and this is more of a research error), that “unknown gunman” was identified as Joshua Ziminski. He’s currently facing charges as a result of this, in addition to other crimes. “Rosenbaum is seen lunging at Rittenhouse, who turned toward the gunman [sic] and shot Rosenbaum four times, including a shot to the head. As Rittenhouse fled the scene, a crowd chased after him, shouting, ‘That’s the shooter!’” Rittenhouse “fled the scene” to turn himself into police. You know…turning himself into law enforcement so that the consequences of what happened can go before court. Not exactly textbook vigilantism. Additionally, the crowd shouted a little more than just “That’s the shooter!”. Some notable quotes include “GET HIM!” and “CRANIUM THAT BOY!” Tell me: does this sound like the crowd wanted to simply find the shooter, or perhaps, dare I say it, to enact justice of their own by “getting” and “cranium-ing” Rittenhouse before he could stand trial? Wouldn’t that be an example of “vigilantism”? “At one point, Rittenhouse falls to the ground and fires three [sic] shots into the crowd, shooting Huber in the chest and Grosskreutz in the arm.” Such dishonest framing! No, Ritten-
house didn’t “fire three shots into the crowd.” If you watched the footage, you could see the following sequence of events occurred: as he was running to the police, Rittenhouse was first hit by someone, losing his hat, after which some in the crowd yelled “Get his ass!” From there, he fell and was set upon by three individuals: first, “jump-kick-man,” suspected to be Maurice Freeland, who kicked Rittenhouse in the face, who in response fired two shots, missing him. Next, Huber hit Rittenhouse in the head/ shoulder area with his skateboard twice and tried taking his gun, to which Rittenhouse responded by firing one shot in his chest, killing him. Lastly, Grosskreutz approached Rittenhouse after chasing him, but was NOT shot when he had his hands up when approaching Rittenhouse. However, only when he put his hands down, aimed his gun at Rittenhouse, and advanced towards him did Rittenhouse ever fire one shot into Grosskreutz’s arm, which Grosskreutz even admitted to under oath. Beyond just getting the number of shots-fired wrong, the only people that Rittenhouse shot at in that scenario (and, really, that entire night) were people who posed an imminent threat to his well-being. He
Vol. XXXIV, Issue VII
