Kyle Rittenhouse trial: Kenosha courthouse becomes 'corner of America'
KENOSHA, Wis. - The longer the jury in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial deliberates seems to only give people more time to travel in from out of town. Protestors on both sides again spent all day Thursday, Nov. 18 on the courthouse steps.
Driving around Kenosha with the Rittenhouse jury deliberating for a third day, it was easy to notice license plates from across the country.
The people shouting in Kenosha are mostly not from Kenosha.
"I’m actually a criminal defense lawyer from Seattle," said Jeff Jared.
"From Chicago," said Leo Pargo.
"I’m from Dixon, Illinois," said Mark Stach.
"Clintonville, Wisconsin," said Katie Fischer.
The trial taking place through the window of the courthouse has attracted the attention of media from across the country, both the traditional kind and the live streamers.
"What you see here in Kenosha this week, Kenosha has become the corner of America," said Bishop Tavis Grant, Rainbow PUSH Coalition national director.
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The majority of people who traveled to the courthouse steps have come for one of two reasons.
"I’m here to support kyle Rittenhouse, the American hero," said Maurice Delk.
"We need to see justice for the people who were murdered for standing up for Black lives," said Pargo.
Others have come with a different purpose.
"I don’t know what else to do other than remind people that peace is an option, so I stand over here across the street and just try and get people to see my peace sign," said Stach.
As demonstrators spend their day meeting all different kinds of people, some learn they all have more in common than their signs would suggest.
"The people who have been out here, even those who have opposed one another, by and large, have recognized that we’ve got to learn how to live together or we’ll die apart," said Grant.
"I’ve learned that most people here today just want peace and justice for all," said Joe Diaz. "We’re all pretty much on the same page except we have little agreements over how Kyle started the shooting."
Kenosha police did put one person in handcuffs Thursday afternoon. FOX6 News reached out for more information on that arrest but have yet to hear back.
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