Black Lives Matter took to social media on Monday after clips surfaced from Kyle Rittenhouse’s interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson that showed Rittenhouse saying that he supported “the BLM movement” and the activist network’s right to peacefully protest.
“This case has nothing to do with race. It never had anything to do with race. It had to do with the right to self-defense,” Rittenhouse said. “I am not a racist person. I support the BLM movement … I support peacefully demonstrating.”
“I believe there needs to be change. I believe there’s a lot of prosecutorial misconduct, not just in my case but in other cases,” Rittenhouse added. “It’s just amazing to see how much a prosecutor can take advantage of somebody.”
Black Lives Matter tweeted from the organization’s official account: “Alexa play: I don’t f*** with you.”
WATCH:
Kyle Rittenhouse: "This case has nothing to do with race."
Watch our exclusive interview, tomorrow at 8pm ET on @FoxNews pic.twitter.com/vXLEVtfycc
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) November 22, 2021
Black Lives Matter claimed that Rittenhouse being found not guilty of all charges during his murder trial was proof that “this is how the systems conspire to entrench #WhiteSupremacy.”
#KyleRittenhouse found not guilty on all counts.
This is how the systems conspire to entrench #WhiteSupremacy.— Black Lives Matter (@Blklivesmatter) November 19, 2021
“Reminder: the system is working exactly as it is meant to,” the group added. “The system was always meant to protect and uphold white supremacy.”
Reminder: the system is working exactly as it is meant to. The system was always meant to protect and uphold white supremacy.
— Black Lives Matter (@Blklivesmatter) November 19, 2021
“The little racist/terrorist Kyle Rittenhouse represents the exact kind of white-supremacist vigilante violence that we’ve seen before — with the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the murder of #TrayvonMartin,” the group added. “It brought us into the streets more than 8 years ago and birthed #BlackLivesMatter. Today is another reminder that we’re far from achieving our abolitionist future. But rest assured, we will get there. We will win. #EndWhiteSupremacy”
It brought us into the streets more than 8 years ago and birthed #BlackLivesMatter.
Today is another reminder that we’re far from achieving our abolitionist future. But rest assured, we will get there. We will win. #EndWhiteSupremacy
— Black Lives Matter (@Blklivesmatter) November 20, 2021
A jury found Rittenhouse not guilty of murder on Friday afternoon for fatally shooting two men and injuring a third during riots last year in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The Daily Wire reported:
Rittenhouse, who is now 18, lives in Antioch, a northern suburb of Chicago about 15 miles from Kenosha. On August 25 of last year when he was 17, Rittenhouse decided to patrol the downtown Kenosha area alongside other armed men in order to protect a used car dealership from looting and vandalism. The city had devolved into rioting over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man, by a white Kenosha police officer.
Rittenhouse took a medical kit and armed himself with a Smith & Wesson M&P15, which is an AR-15 style semi-automatic rifle that police say his friend illegally bought for him.
While guarding the used car dealership, he was chased by protesters and ended up fatally shooting two people, Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and injuring a third, Gaige Grosskreutz. The defendant and the three men he shot are all white.
He was arrested and charged with five felony charges and one misdemeanor charge. The most serious charge was intentional homicide, Wisconsin’s top murder charge, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. The others were reckless homicide, attempted homicide, two counts of reckless endangerment, and being a minor illegally in possession of a firearm.
On Monday, the judge dismissed the misdemeanor firearm charge, which was considered the easiest charge for the state to prove. Previously, Rittenhouse was also charged with violating curfew, but that charge was dismissed last week by the judge as well.