Daily Times

During Social Justice movements in America and around the world, earlier last year, tensions were high and a deep deep contrast was shown between the two sides. One in support of it, one starkly against it.

In these tensions, inside a very heated protest in Kenosha, a 17-year-old boy, named Kyle Rittenhouse, was a so-called “justice-seeker”. Wisconsin had seen many things during the BLM protests, including the brutal shooting of Jacob Blake, who was, for unrelated reasons, shot seven times in the back. And yes, he was Black.

On a night of great despair, two people lost their life. 25 August 2020, was a very sad day, indeed for the state of Wisconsin. However, its causation was the most alarming part. The boy mentioned earlier, was in fact the murderer. Carrying a rifle across the streets of the small Wisconsin town, Rittenhouse, said that he was here to protect the people. He had, in fact, come here all the way from Chicago, to target BLM protesters. Any protesters he thought were “unruly”, were shot by him, which I may remind you yet again, that is a 17-year-old.

After shots were heard, proper crowd control took place, with protesters rushing towards him, to control his aim, not knowing they were the aim. 26-year-old Anthony Huber, 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum, and Gaige Grosskreutz, the 27-year-old, inured, but miraculously a survivor.

From Roe v. Wade to Cooper v. Aaron, courts have long seen their position as a powerful hand in shaping interests in American society.

After an NYT investigative report into the incident, they took into consideration multiple videos, in which police were seen validating him on the streets, instead of arresting a boy, with no right to bear arms.

It also estimated the exact time of incidents in a very hazy video scene. Finally, after things unfolded, Rittenhouse was arrested from Illinois, on his way back home, and possibly hiding.

Now, since the trial has begun, in a circuit court inside Kenosha County, a jury of 20 people (11 women and nine men) was selected. The judge, showing early ideas of the case, referred to the victims as “rioters,” setting very unusual precedence for a case being pursued in newsrooms across the country.

The I-90 that divides Kenosha country into east and west also divides it into left and right, signalling a more regressive change in the state, with no offence meant to state and local officials, truly doing their jobs.

The judge’s remarks were pretty straightforward. His referral to the victims as looters gave it all away. There is so much one can say to avoid contempt of court, but then again, it’s not Pakistan. This was clearly first-degree murder. First-degree, because it was from his own un-named, and unauthorised riffle. Also in the criminal contempt charges, the boy, or now the 18-year-old had the intention to murder. There were video accounts of this intention because he had earlier mentioned his intent to protect the city. As outrageous as it was because obviously, this was not his city, nor his state, he went on with the defence’s “self-defense” strategy. The fact that one pack of lawyers had merit and the other had a bias, was very well intentionally questionable, probably because of the fragile nature of the case.

A dealership nearby, suffered 1.5 million in losses, that night because of the shooting. When asked Rittenhouse on the streets, had to say this and I quote, “So, people are getting injured, and our job is to protect this business. Part of my job is also to help people. If there is somebody hurt, I’m running into harm’s way.” So the cars were safer, than actual human beings at this protest that went deadly because of his actions.

A total of five charges, and misdemeanours, make his case very fragile. Any new development could cut his chances of being left out anywhere between 65 years and a life sentence. His age, at the time, would be of the essence, not at the time of his testimony. However, state laws would suggest that the person would have to be punished in the state. Furthermore, an extradition attempt by the state of Wisconsin was deemed valid the first time. After bail, and a sentence, the second extradition might not be needed.

The writer is a freelance columnist.