The first time I became aware of 17-year-old Rittenhouse was when I watched in horror as he killed two people during a racial protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Shockingly, after committing the homicide he walked right up to police, with his automatic weapon across his chest, saying he just killed to people. The police waved him away. My first thought was if a black man had walked up to the police with an AR15, he would have been shot.
But the details were even more horrifying. He did not even live in Wisconsin but saw the protests on TV in his Illinois home he shared with his mother. He bragged to his teenage friends that he bought the weapon with his economic stimulus check. His mother gave him the support to do this. Rittenhouse claims he went to Kenosha to help protect business owners' property. Only two people were killed during these demonstrations-both by Kyle Rittenhouse.
Yesterday, Rittenhouse did a command performance tearfully testifying that his shootings were self-defense. Sociopaths excel at imitating real emotions. Never mind that the underage out of state boy should not have been there in the first place and he should have never been able to purchase, let alone fire, an automatic weapon.
He is the new right-wing hero. Money has poured into his criminal defense fund from Trump proponents, Q-Anon fanatics, and the white-only fringe groups. Rittenhouse is the altruistic poster child for vigilante justice. No doubt this will start a new chapter in gun violence: the deludedly dedicated vigilante who takes matters into his own hands, then claims self-dense.
The old white judge presiding over his case appallingly would not allow Mr. Rittenhouse's murdered persons to be described as victims, only as rioters or looters. So, this is the message I get from Wisconsin law: if you are an angry, white underage boy, you can purchase an automatic weapon, go to another state, and arbitrarily decide which protesters you can kill because you are supposedly protecting any community. What's next, murder vacations?
P.S. The verdict is in: it's okay to be an underaged white male and kill people. Your future looks bright interning for the GOP.
