Introduction
After the jury deliberated for multiple days, Kyle Rittenhouse was deemed not guilty on all counts. It was a gigantic victory for self-defense as the defense and prosecution (inadvertently. More on that later) proved that Rittenhouse only used his AR-15 when necessary.
However, it should have never came to this point. Despite the fact that there was video and eye witness evidence that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense, the prosecution, mainstream media, and radical groups badly wanted a guilty verdict. The case exposed a lot of corruption that plagues multiple powerful institutions and this should alarm everyone.
The Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum Lawyers
Thomas Binger and James Krause were the prosecutors in the Rittenhouse trial. The former is the Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney whereas the latter is the Kenosha County District Attorney. Elected to their positions, one would assume they would play fair and stick to the law. However, I ended up witnessing one of the most dirty and incompetent prosecution I have ever seen.
Enter Gaige Grosskreutz, the lone survivor among the 3 individuals Rittenhouse shot and the prosecution's star witness. During cross examination, the prosecution's case against Rittenhouse progressively went more downhill. While Grosskreutz denied that he "chased" after Rittenhouse, he admitted that he ran after him. In addition, the defense revealed that he illegally possessed his pistol as his license was expired. But the most damning part was this:
You can watch Grosskreutz's entire testimony here.
The rest of the trial did not fare any better for the prosecution either. When James Krause cross-examined defense witness photojournalist Nathan De Bruin, it went horribly for the prosecution.
From the very start, the cross-examination fell on its face. As Krause asked De Bruin a series of questions regarding their meeting over the photojournalist's statement. The lawyer, then, asked, "[Binger and I] didn't ask you to change [your statement]?" (2:52) to which the witness answered they did. That is witness tampering.
Krause continued to bumble throughout the cross-examination. He showed poor body language when he tossed a photo in front of De Bruin as the latter extended his hand out to receive it (12:38). The photojournalist actually scolded the lawyer a few times for misconstruing what he said. Judge Schroeder even had to ask the jury to leave the courtroom after Krause questioned De Bruin's right to seeing an attorney.
Thomas Binger also made his fair share of blunders. When he cross-examined Rittenhouse and questioned his 5th Amendment Rights, Judge Schroeder asked the jury to leave the courtroom before he expressed his astonishment at Binger's behavior. It got even worse when Binger attempted to sneakily bring up propensity evidence that was already ruled to be inadmissible. The judge had to ask the jury to leave again before angrily scolding the prosecutor.
And for the cherry on top, Binger thought it was a good idea to call Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum, the two people Rittenhouse killed, heroes in his closing argument. Yes, he called a wife beater and a child molester, respectively, "heroes". On top of that, he demonstrated Alec Baldwin-esque gun discipline as he pointed an (unloaded, thankfully) AR-15 at the jury with his finger on the trigger.
The Mainstream Media, the Wannabe 13th Juror
Binger and Krause were far from the only people who were woefully corrupt. The mainstream media also joined in on dogpiling Rittenhouse for daring to defend himself.
Back in August 2020, so-called "fact checker" PolitiFact deemed the claim that “at 17 years old Kyle (Rittenhouse) was perfectly legal to be able to possess that rifle without parental supervision" to be false. Its "fact check" ended up aging poorly as Judge Schroeder threw out the charge as Wisconsin law allowed Rittenhouse at that age to bear a long barrel rifle. (This is a good example of why you are your own fact checker and no one else.)
Fast forward to the trial, MSNBC's Joy Reid made the trial all about race and white supremacy despite the fact that Rittenhouse was in Kenosha that fateful night to protect businesses, provide first aid, and put out fires. Unsurprisingly, after the jury gave its verdict and acquitted Rittenhouse of all counts, Reid went on an incoherent tirade calling him a "modern-day incarnation of slave catchers".
That was not MSNBC's only mistake. As the jury deliberated, James Morrison, the producer of Channel 5 Chicago (an NBC affiliate), was caught by the police for following the jury bus. The police pulled him over because he ran a red light. On top of that, "Morrison allegedly said he was told to follow the jury bus by his boss in New York, identified as Irene Byon". As a result, Judge Schroeder banned MSNBC from the courthouse for the remainder of the trial.
CNN, the same organization that birthed the "Fiery, but mostly peaceful protest" meme, also joined in on the race baiting with this whopper of a headline:
The mainstream media's coverage of Rittenhouse's trial from the beginning to post-verdict was full of (actual) misinformation and defamatory content. One would think because they are news organizations, they would cover the trial in an unbiased manner and wait until all of the facts are put on the table. Instead, they jumped the gun several times and invoke completely irrelevant topics like race.
Closing Thoughts: There Needs to be Consequences
In a just world, Thomas Binger and James Krause are disbarred and do not practice law ever again. Binger violated Rittenhouse's 5th Amendment rights and dared to bring up propensity evidence that was ruled by the judge to be inadmissible. Krause tried to bully a witness with a speech impediment only for that to backfire. The fact that they are government lawyers is horrifying given their level of malice and incompetency.
The mainstream media is just as bad as they attempted to influence public opinion by spreading actual misinformation about Rittenhouse's actions and motives. Many of the outlets wrongfully made Rittenhouse and his trial all about race when it was about his right to defend himself against mob violence. Even worse, MSNBC ordered an employee to stalk the jury and what seemingly was an attempt at jury intimidation.
Obviously, there needs to be consequences, but the end result will be predictable and inconsequential: all of them will just get a slap in the wrist, at worst. Heck, I will not be surprised if Binger and Krause get a ludicrous book deal where they complain about the "grave injustice" of Rittenhouse walking free and brag about how they "fought the good fight" and "started a conversation" on guns. While Rittenhouse can sue the news media for defamation like how Nick Sandmann sued CNN and perhaps even win in court (or reach a settlement), the mainstream media will just go back to business as usual.
The right to self-defense should have never been put on trial.
The sheer amount of misinformation coming from the media regarding the Rittenhouse case is astronomical. Somehow, a case of self-defense got turned into political theater in another attempt to smear all non-liberals as racist. Do I think Kyle should've been there to begin with? Not really. Do I think he had every right to do what he did to protect himself? Yes, he did.
The media makes it seem as though the entire country is crawling with white supremacists. While I don't deny that such people exist, the Charlottesville protests taught us that for every KKK wannabe, there are at least 50 counter-protestors to stop their stupidity. White supremacists are a very small minority, and they don't hold political power. They will never swing an election, despite what the DNC and MSM want you to believe.
Kyle Rittenhouse was a boy who was attacked by violent protestors. That's not to say that all BLM protestors are violent (many aren't), but when you get physically assaulted, you have the right to defend yourself. Score one for the Second Amendment!