My Op-Ed on the Kyle Rittenhouse trial results ran in today’s Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
Last month, I discussed examples of the legacy media covering to promote the progressives’ metanarrative. The most recent example of their propping up the progressive agenda is their reporting of the Kyle Rittenhouse debacle. This case should never have gone to trial. Even elementary investigative journalism would have demonstrated that. But instead of searching for and reporting the truth, the legacy media would rather see the country in a race war to keep their advertising dollars flowing in.
Their core narrative is that Kyle Rittenhouse is a white supremacist who drove across state lines with an illegal AR-15 to shoot black protesters. MSNBC’s national affairs analyst, John Heilemann, put it this way: “a white, Trump-supporting, MAGA-loving Blue Lives Matter social media partisan, 17 years old, picks up a gun, drives from one state to another with the intent to shoot people.” Esquire accused him of “terrorist tourism.”
President Biden referred to Rittenhouse as a “white supremacist.” Vice President Harris claimed ”we will not let these vigilantes and extremists derail the path to justice.” Representative Ayanna Presley (D-MA) described Rittenhouse as a “domestic terrorist [who] drove across state lines, armed with an AR-15.” Democrats spun this as race related, and their media followed suit.
It didn’t matter that Rittenhouse, the two men killed, and the one injured were all white. The prosecution was even given Rittenhouse’s cellphone and passcode. They found nothing linking him to white supremacy or militia movements.
As it turns out, Rittenhouse’s dad, grandma, and friends all lived in Kenosha, 20 minutes from where he resided part time with his mom in Antioch, IL. Furthermore, Rittenhouse did not illegally cross state lines with a gun because according to the state of Wisconsin he possessed that gun legally, even at 17.
This must be the most well-documented shooting cases ever. There was even FBI drone footage from 9,000 feet (why the FBI is flying drones over US cities is an Op-ed for a different time). There were multiple hand-held videos and photos, each one substantiating Rittenhouse’s account.
The jury rightly decided that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense in each instance. Rittenhouse was extinguishing fires Joseph Rosenbaum started. Rosenbaum, armed with a chain, yelled “If I catch any of you f***ers alone, I’m going to f***ing kill you.” “I’m going to cut your f***ing hearts out and kill you n******s.” Rosenbaum backed Rittenhouse alone into a corner, yelled “f*** you,” and grabbed for his gun. Anthony Huber hit Rittenhouse twice in the head with a skateboard and then grabbed Rittenhouse’s gun while he was on the ground. Still on the ground and at point-blank range, Gaige Grosskreutz lowered his gun and pointed it at Rittenhouse. After the shootings, Rittenhouse immediately ran to the nearest policeman and acknowledged what happened.
In my opinion, the Democrats’ media were stoking a race riot in the summer of 2020 to unseat Donald Trump. Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers withheld the necessary police force to get Kenosha under control, turning down an offer from Trump for federal help. The police were told to stand down and let the rioting run its course and literally burn itself out.
It’s clear from Rittenhouse’s actions that he went down to his family’s hometown to help protect what the government would not: the property and lives of his neighbors. No 17-year-old should be put in the position of having to choose between his own safety and standing up to riotous anarchists. But if the government will not do that one thing it is established to do (protect life, liberty, and property) then good people will take up that responsibility — as they should.
Thankfully, the jury in Kenosha last week affirmed our right to self-defense, but they could have easily caved to the pressure that the media and mobs were placing on them to convict Rittenhouse and fuel their distorted sense of social justice. It shouldn’t have to be an act of bravery for a jury to do its duty, yet the woke media will undoubtedly use this acquittal to attack the jury by saying that justice is dead.
This turn of events proves that justice is still very much alive, albeit limping along. From here, it’s our responsibility to combat the false narratives coming our way through the libelous media and slanderous politicians and seek justice at all costs.