Kenosha unrest shooting

On August 25, 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old from Antioch, Illinois, shot and killed two men and wounded another man in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The shootings occurred during the protests, riots, and civil unrest that followed the shooting of Jacob Blake. Race was a major theme in U.S. media commentary, although Rittenhouse and those he shot were white. Rittenhouse was armed with an AR-15 style rifle and had joined a group of armed people in Kenosha who said that they were in Kenosha to protect businesses.

Joseph D. Rosenbaum, a 36-year-old unarmed Kenosha man, ran at Rittenhouse and grabbed the barrel of his rifle after throwing a plastic shopping bag of clothing at him. Rittenhouse shot Rosenbaum four times at close range, killing him. Rittenhouse fled and was pursued by a crowd. Anthony Huber, a 26-year-old-resident of Silver Lake, struck Rittenhouse in the head with a skateboard and attempted to wrest his rifle away; Rittenhouse shot him once, fatally. Gaige Paul Grosskreutz, a 26-year-old West Allis man who pointed a handgun at Rittenhouse, was shot by Rittenhouse once in the right arm and survived.

Kenosha County prosecutors charged Rittenhouse with two counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide, two counts of reckless endangerment, one count of unlawful possession of a firearm, and one count of curfew violation. His trial lasted from November 1 to 19, 2021. Prosecutors sought to show Rittenhouse as a criminal gunman, while defense lawyers argued that Rittenhouse had acted in self-defense, asserting that his attackers were part of a mob that "attacked him in the street like an animal" and that he used force necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself.}} Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed the unlawful possession charge and the curfew violation charge for being legally unsupported, and a jury found Rittenhouse not guilty of the remaining charges.

Public sentiment of the shootings was polarized and media coverage both polarized and politicized. Multiple right-wing politicians and figures welcomed Rittenhouse's acquittal, stating that the shootings were self-defense. President Joe Biden called for the jury's verdict to be respected, although stated that the verdict "will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included." Multiple Democratic politicians and figures criticized the verdict as a miscarriage of justice, saying that the acquittal was emblematic of racial double standards in the American justice system. Gun control advocates expressed concerns that the verdict would embolden vigilantism and militia groups. An ''Economist''/YouGov poll conducted during the trial found that two-thirds of Republicans thought Rittenhouse should be acquitted, while three-quarters of Democrats thought he should be convicted. Provided by Wikipedia