Kyle Rittenhouse verdict: Community response event organized
KENOSHA, Wis. - Emotions on both sides ran high throughout the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, which culminated with a verdict Friday, Nov. 19 – not guilty on all five counts.
While Rittenhouse, his family and supporters were relieved, others took the news hard. Outside Regimen Barber Collective near 52nd Street and 14th Avenue in Kenosha, an event was held in hopes of jumpstarting the process to heal and move forward as a community.
The Reimagine Kenosha event was organized, in part, by Black Leaders Organizing for Community (BLOC) – providing a place to process emotions after the verdict.
"It seems like right now the system has dealt another crushing blow to a lot of hopes and dreams," said Kyle Johnson, BLOC community organizer.
Leaders and community members were not letting that keep them down, wasting no time setting up the event to build community.
"We’ve done so much to build those ties and those structures and those connections," Johnson said. "We want folks to grieve, let out frustration – whatever form that may be – in a safe, peaceful way."
Kyle Johnson, BLOC community organizer, speaks at Reimagine Kenosha event
"I was disappointed but not surprised because I’m 20 years old and I’ve been used to seeing…just not results coming out the way we hoped," said Henry Martin, vice president of the Carthage College Black Student Union.
That feeling was echoed by loved ones of the two men shot and killed by Rittenhouse: feeling hollow, still looking to fix a system they say is broken.
"I am, like I said, not surprised at what happened here today, but I am heartbroken," said Hannah Gittings, Anthony Huber's girlfriend. "We don’t need the violence, we don’t need that at all. All we need to do is keep standing and keep being loud and keep calling them out on their (expletive)."
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Gittings spoke, along with Joseph Rosenbaum's fiancee and Jacob Blake's uncle, about steps they can take moving ahead.
"This is actually a birthing place of what’s going to be going on from here forward," Justin Blake, Jacob Blake's uncle, said.
Reimagine Kenosha event after the verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial
"We need to come out and show people are upset so hopefully things change," said Martin.
For them and the community, healing means building a different future.
"I will not rest. We will not rest," Gittings said.
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"We’re going to get through this together," said Johnson.
Organizers said they will be out throughout Friday night to offer a peaceful place for community members to gather.
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