In
a recent SNL’s
Weekend Update
sketch, Michael Che joked if there was a “white tears law
school” that teaches white men how to cry their way out of
trouble. Che was referring to Kyle Rittenhouse’s over-the-top
tearful testimony during his recent trial. It is likely that the
dramatic performance swayed his white-jury-minus-one-Black.
The
trial of Kyle Rittenhouse has overshadowed the shooting of Jacob
Blake by a white Kenosha cop in 2020. Blake was shot several times in
the back, severing his spinal cord and leaving him paralyzed. Blake
is unlikely to get real justice in his case. The Justice Department
has already ruled it would not be seeking charges against the officer
involved.
Rittenhouse
has become the poster child for blue lives matter. We surely can’t
say he values all white lives. The junior vigilante shot and killed
two men and attempted to kill others - all who were white. He faced
five felony charges and one misdemeanor. Those felony charges carry
up to 65 years in prison although he’s unlikely to get the full
brunt of those sentences. His age, race and tears are big mitigating
factors.
The
then 17-year-old rode into Kenosha with an AR semiautomatic rifle
under the guise of wanting to protect businesses during the protests
fueled by the Blake shooting. Rittenhouse knowingly purchased his
weapon illegally, knowingly took it across state lines illegally,
knowingly drove without a valid driver’s license, knowingly
lied on the scene that he was an EMT. This is not a choir boy who was
a victim of circumstance. His actions were intentional from the time
he left Antioch, Illinois to when he fired his gun at people at two
separate locations. Despite the evidence of premeditation, he and his
attorneys are claiming self-defense as their winning legal strategy.
One
of the concerns of the racial justice movement has become the
commandeering of protest spaces by white radicalized youth and white
anarchists. The Kenosha protest is an example of this where competing
agendas play out and become a distraction from the original cause -
protesting the excessive use of force by police in the Blake
shooting. Instead, it became a showcase for white bravado.
Rittenhouse said his choice of weapon made him look “cool”
as if he was auditioning for his place in white vigilante history.
The
criminal trial was rife with judicial and political missteps. Judge
Bruce Schroeder often made the headlines with his behavior from what
evidence he allowed in the courtroom to disallowing the word “victim”
to be used to describe Rittenhouse’s human targets. The
longest-serving judge in Wisconsin should’ve been astute enough
not to insert his racial bias by making a joke about why Asian food
delivery could be late for lunch.
The
latest on this case is that the judge may allow the jury to convict
on lesser charges. Judge Schroeder has dismissed the charge of
possession of a dangerous weapon. He has released a 36-page
instruction booklet for the jury for a case that has multiple charges
and layers of legal complexities.
Meanwhile,
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evans has authorized the National Guard
troops to report to Kenosha in anticipation of a negative public
reaction to a verdict in the Rittenhouse trial. I can only assume his
decision takes into consideration the vigilantes who are bound to
converge on Kenosha to raise hell should there be convictions of
their hero.
The
hunt is still on for all those who participated in the insurrection
of the U.S. Capitol on January 6 to hold them accountable. Armed with
semiautomatics and racist ideology, these mainly white men will
continue to define what justice should look like in this country.
Kyle Rittenhouse is representative of this movement. It must be
resolutely stopped by an organized, anti-racist counter-movement that
puts justice and democracy at the forefront.
