Kyle Rittenhouse verdict: Courthouse demonstrators respond
KENOSHA, Wis. - Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges Friday, Nov. 19 – the jury finding the 18-year-old not guilty of five counts.
Roughly a dozen demonstrators, along with dozens of more members of the media, filled the Kenosha County Courthouse steps as the verdict came down. While there were some sheers from a small number of people, most seemed to let the moment sink in after the culmination of days of deliberation and weeks of trial.
Justin Blake, the uncle of Jacob Blake, as well as a representative from the Rainbow Push Coalition, stood and listened outside as the jury announced its decision.
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The shooting of Jacob Blake, a Blake man, by a Kenosha police officer, who is white, prompted the days of protests and nights of unrest that ultimately brought Rittenhouse to the city. Those events predicated the shootings that left Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber dead and Gaige Grosskreutz injured.
"I’m going to let (Jacob) get some rest, I’m going to let him digest it before we even unpack it," said Justin Blake. "I know his heart of hearts, Anthony (Huber) was his buddy. His heart has to feel heavy. So, we’ll give it a minute. But first and foremost, he needs to be taken care of."
Demonstrators and media assembled outside the Kenosha County Courthouse after the verdict was read in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.
The jury's acquittal of Rittenhouse came with the decision that the teen acted in self-defense when he shot the three men.
"I think justice was served. I think, like we talked the other day, I think that Kyle got in over his head," Michelle Darnell, a demonstrator who traveled to Kenosha from Washington state, said. "He might have been foolish to be in that situation and that moment, but foolishness is not a crime in the United States. And at the end of the day, he still had a right to self-defense in that moment."
Kyle Rittenhouse
Demonstrators gathered outside the courthouse each day of the trial. Bishop Tavis Grant with the Rainbow Push Coalition was among those present Friday as the verdict was read.
"We’ve still got fight in us. We talk about Jacob (Blake) Jr., still believing his resilience is why we’re out here. The Huber family, Rosenbaum’s resilience is the reason why we’re out here," Grant said. "This is not over. This is wrong. It is wrong for anyone to take the lives of two innocent people and not be held accountable for it. This was not self-defense. This was not the appropriate use of deadly force, it was wrong."
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"We are proud that it’s brought so many different organizations together. Once you do that, you can never turn back. The victory we will achieve is not far out there in the distance and it will change this country," said Justin Blake.
For Darnell, who stood in support of Rittenhouse, was pleased but aware of the trial's two-sided outcome.
"I’ve seen a few people ‘celebratory’ – yes, we celebrate that our rights are preserved. But at the same time, at the end of the day, one person was injured and two people are dead," Darnell said. "There’s going to be some people here that are very upset, and we shouldn’t be gloating about this."
After the verdict was brought down, those who stood on different sides of the case continued as they had throughout the trial – nothing rising to a level that caused scuffles or arrests, compared to prior days.
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