Elected Democrats and progressive activists are condemning the outcome of Kyle Rittenhouse’s jury trial while calling for civil unrest and slandering the acquitted teen as a “murderer.”
“Kyle Rittenhouse is living proof that white tears can still forestall justice,” Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) said. “A murderer is once again walking free today — our system is terribly broken.”
Dyjuan Tatro, a senior adviser to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), called for civil unrest following the verdict, tweeting, “no justice, no peace.” Tatro himself is a criminal ex-gang member who served time for racketeering and shooting two rival gang members before joining the DCCC.
“I do not believe that convictions equal justice. But I am convinced that the ‘not guilty’ verdict constitutes a great injustice today. The American legal system is rooted in racism and functions to uphold white supremacy,” Tatro said.
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) said following Rittenhouse’s “not guilty” verdict: “America today: you can break the law, carry around weapons built for a military, shoot and kill people, and get away with it. That’s the message we’ve just sent to armed vigilantes across the nation.”
The ACLU, which purports to fight for Americans’ civil rights, condemned the verdict in a lengthy Twitter thread, blaming Kenosha law enforcement for forcing “protesters” into confrontations with “white militia groups.”
Despite Kyle Rittenhouse’s conscious decision to travel across state lines and injure one person and take the lives of two people protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake by police, he was not held responsible for his actions. Unfortunately, this is not surprising.
His acquittal comes after our investigation exposed how Kenosha law enforcement used violence against protesters and drove them toward white militia groups, in ways that escalated tensions and almost certainly led to these shootings.
It is far too easy to overlook the impact that violence in defense of white supremacy has on the Black and Brown communities.
When the community rose up to exercise their First Amendment right to protest after the police shot a Black man in the back — in front of his children, police enabled white supremacist militia members.
“Dangerous, disgusting, unacceptable white supremacy in #RittenhouseVerdict,” the ACLU of Maryland added.
Becky Pringle, the head of the largest teachers’ union in the U.S., the National Education Association, said the jury’s decision threatens “the safety of all of us.” Pringle lamented and claimed that the decision has failed to live up to the standards of the Black Lives Matter protests of last year, which sparked hundreds of violent riots across the U.S. Pringle said:
Regardless of race or place, we all want to live without fearing for our lives or those of our loved ones. Today, the jury in the Kyle Rittenhouse failed to hold him accountable for his deadly actions, threatening the safety of all of us.
The Black Lives Matter protests that defined that deadly summer in Kenosha & elsewhere called for accountability & justice through organizing. It united so many of us to ensure all communities can realize the promise of our nation’s ideals—life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness.
When a 17-year old is able to come into another community, brandish an automatic weapon, kill two people, and avoid accountability, justice has not been served. We must be able to walk down our streets, exercise our right to protest safely, and be treated equally under the law.
We know that a better future is possible. We will continue our activism to demand justice and accountability for all.
Rittenhouse was cleared of charges of intentional homicide, reckless homicide, attempted intentional homicide, and two counts of reckless endangerment on Friday.