Lightburst, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
A supporter of Kyle Rittenhouse, who fatally shot two men during protests in Kenosha in August 2020.
Kyle Rittenhouse has now been acquitted of all charges in the shooting of three and killing of two protestors in Kenosha last summer. Just 17, Rittenhouse successfully claimed self defense in a trial hampered by a weak prosecution and a highly biased judge.
The verdict has rightfully left many Wisconsinites reeling, especially those who saw the events in Kenosha following the shooting of Jacob Blake as indicative of a deeply broken system that treats Black Wisconsinites far worse than their white counterparts.
And they would be correct. Rittenhouse’s acquittal proved that our legal system is much more of a criminal injustice system to some than it ever has been for others.
The grace Rittenhouse was shown has not been afforded to Black boys like Tamir Rice, who at 12 was playing with a toy gun before a white Cleveland cop decided in 2014 to be judge, jury and executioner and shot and killed him where he stood. Commenting on the Rittenhouse acquittal, Rice’s mother expressed her confusion at the justice system but also said she understood “that it was designed this way.”
Maybe the system is acting as it’s designed. In the eyes of the law, Black men and boys are usually seen as aggressors and rarely afforded the benefit of the doubt — they are found guilty before they are tried. But for lucky white boys like Rittenhouse, innocence is the presumption and guilt has a very high standard of proof.
And when you’re a Proud Boys sympathizer who showed up in Kenosha intent on harming protestors, that presumption of innocence lets you walk past law enforcement after you‘ve shot and killed. It lets you off the hook and fights for your innocence after you’ve clearly murdered. That presumption of innocence even puts your victims on trial as much as you and gets you offers of congressional internships.
It calls you an American hero.
Perhaps what’s more alarming about the Rittenhouse acquittal is not the truth about our criminal justice system that it has unveiled, but rather the precedent that it has set.
Vigilantism, regardless of political affiliation, is uncontrollable, highly subjective, and dangerous. Vigilantism is the antithesis of what our law enforcement and criminal justice system represents because it operates outside of order. No one in Wisconsin should be able to go to a protest and shoot individuals on behalf of law enforcement. For the law to justify vigilantism is to go against the rule of law itself.
Kyle Rittenhouse went out looking for trouble that night and created the dangerous environment he supposedly needed protection from. Carrying an AR-15 style rifle and shooting at people should come with the assumption that people are going to try to stop you from harming them or others. You are, after all, the threat.
But Rittenhouse has escaped accountability and now Wisconsin has fallen off a precipice. We are faced with the possibility that political violence will become the norm and not just the exception in our state. Peaceful protests can never be peaceful if protestors have to worry about an alt-right vigilante showing up with a rifle acting on behalf of the police.
The right to protest is a fundamental part of our democracy, but the right to shoot and kill at will at a protest is not. Regardless of where you fall on the politics behind the events of last summer, the violent disorder of vigilantism should worry you and its protection by our legal system should terrify you.
Nada Elmikashfi is chief of staff to state Rep. Francesca Hong and a former candidate for state Senate.
