The jury in the Kyle Rittenhouse has delivered its verdict, but it’s not the end of legal proceedings related to the police shooting of Jacob Blake or the shootings that occurred at subsequent protests.
Rittenhouse, 18, faced five charges: first-degree reckless homicide for killing Joseph Rosenbaum, 36; first-degree intentional homicide for killing Anthony Huber, 26; and attempted first-degree intentional homicide in the shooting of Gaige Grosskreutz, 28.
He also faced two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment for shooting twice at an unidentified man, and in the direction of Richard McGinniss, a videographer who was in the line of fire when Rittenhouse shot at Rosenbaum.
He was found not guilty Friday on all counts.
Acquittal
Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges. He cannot be tried again. The Constitution protects against double jeopardy.
He has been out of custody since posting his $2 million bail in November 2020. The bail money will be returned to whoever posted it now that the case has been resolved.
Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the shootings, has not faced any federal charges and it’s very unlikely federal prosecutors will file any now.
Federal law only applies in homicide cases in vary narrow circumstances, such as the crime occurring on federal land or the victim being an elected federal official.
Rittenhouse was not accused of a hate crime. He is not a member of law enforcement and therefore cannot be charged with depriving anyone of their civil rights as a government agent. He was not accused of a robbery involving a federally insured business, like a bank, or interfering with interstate commerce.
Congressman Jerry Nadler, D-New York, called for a federal review of the case Friday. He serves as the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
“This heartbreaking verdict is a miscarriage of justice and sets a dangerous precedent which justifies federal review by DOJ,” he tweeted. “Justice cannot tolerate armed persons crossing state lines looking for trouble while people engage in First Amendment-protected protest.”
This heartbreaking verdict is a miscarriage of justice and sets a dangerous precedent which justifies federal review by DOJ. Justice cannot tolerate armed persons crossing state lines looking for trouble while people engage in First Amendment-protected protest. https://t.co/Uh95Uc1Ddo
— Rep. Nadler (@RepJerryNadler) November 19, 2021
Rittenhouse, who lived in Illinois, did not take the gun across state lines to Kenosha, according to trial testimony and police investigators.
The AR-15 was stored at the Kenosha home of the person who purchased the weapon and Rittenhouse retrieved it there before going to the protests. Rittenhouse, then 17, was not old enough to buy an AR-15 at the time.
The buyer of the AR-15, Dominick Black, does face possible federal exposure related to the straw purchase of the firearm. Black testified during Rittenhouse’s trial and he faces two charges of intentionally giving a dangerous weapon to someone younger than 18, resulting in death, in state court.
Federal authorities have looked into Black’s purchase of the rifle, a spokesperson for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives told the Journal Sentinel earlier this year. Black testified he knew Rittenhouse was younger than 18 when he took Rittenhouse’s money and purchased the gun for him.
How the Kyle Rittenhouse case played out over the last year following the shootings in Kenosha
Who gets the $2 million bail money?
After the shooting, Rittenhouse became a cause célèbre in conservative circles and some gun-rights advocacy groups and donations poured in to support him.
The money was collected by a Texas nonprofit called the #FightBack Foundation, founded by John Pierce and L. Lin Wood.
Pierce used a $2 million check drawn on his Los Angeles-based law firm to bail Rittenhouse out of jail in November 2020. Theoretically, the money would be returned to him now that the case has concluded.
But the Rittenhouse family fired Pierce in February and have accused him and Wood, who left the case last year, of diverting money meant to help Rittenhouse.
In September, a Kenosha lawyer named Xavier Solis filed a letter with the court saying the bail money had come from #FightBack Foundation and should be returned to the organization. Pierce is no longer affiliated with the foundation.
Civil cases to continue
Rittenhouse’s family has hinted at possible defamation lawsuits related to how public figures and media organizations characterized his actions and motivations during the shootings. So far, they have not take any formal legal action.
The father of Anthony Huber has filed a federal civil lawsuit, but not against Rittenhouse. It names the city and county of Kenosha, the sheriff, the acting and former police chiefs, and unnamed officers and deputies. The lawsuit accuses them of racial animus in allowing dozens of armed whites to remain among protesters, leading to conditions that resulted in Huber’s death. The suit remains open.
Jacob Blake has filed a federal lawsuit against Rusten Shesky, the officer who shot him, claiming his use of deadly force was excessive, violated Blake’s rights against unreasonable seizure, and was done with “malice, willfulness, and reckless indifference” to Blake’s rights. The civil case remains ongoing.
Four protesters have sued the city and county of Kenosha. They allege the curfews were selectively enforced against protesters, while officers ignored, or even encouraged, armed men like Rittenhouse. It seeks to be certified as a class action on behalf of all the people cited for curfew violations.
Contact Ashley Luthern at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @aluthern.
© © 2021 Journal Media Group
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That Little Troll, Nadler, MUST be removed from office due to his aversion to telling the truth. He and Lying Shiff for brains and Communist China Spy boyfriend Swallowell do not deserve to serve our Country in politics.
And he shouldn’t just be “THINKING” about lawsuits for slander and defamation, HE SHOULD ALREADY BE FILING THEM…
“Self-defense is NOT illegal”
NOR is it merely a Privilege, as some on MSNBC seem to think.
IT IS A BLOODY RIGHT!
Persecution—no doubt. He will have to be looking over his shoulder at all times because you know there are people who who want to do him in. He may even be faced with having to move to another part of the country and start a new life. I don’t fault him at all—it comes with taking a stand for what is right.
I hope he moves to a red state. Even tho’ the dems are trying to ruin those, now, too.
His lawyer already said “he will have to move, as he won’t get a fair shake, ANYWHERE In Wisconsin anymore…
“This heartbreaking verdict is a miscarriage of justice”. Hey Jerry Nadler, you are a “miscarriage” and that is why no brain can be found between your ears!
That fat little punk, Nadler, is about as informed on law as the idiot Al Sharpton. Neither know the basics of federal law, and the restrictions on using it for state cases. Federal review, to do what? Waste money on a state law trial that has been decided? Nadler, if you ever had a pair it’s time to use them to admit you’re wrong about everything. And he’s in charge of the House Judiciary Committee? Shouldn’t someone who knows the applicable laws be in charge of that committee? The democrats are a joke.
What’s next? He should sue every news outlet, cabal company, politician, and idiot who ever called him a white supremacist, vigilantly, racist, or any other derogatory name. Leave them all destitute.
STARTING with MSNBC, and CNN! Then move onto the politicians!
people engage in First Amendment-protected protest
Last time I checked “First Amendment-protected protest” was about free speech, freedom of association, and the right to petition the government. I don’t see anything in the five freedoms protected by the First Amendment about looting and burning, or assaulting police officers or reporters, or killing innocent bystanders (including small children).
Exactly. RIOTING, Arson, Looting, and such are NOT A PROTEST.. and thus not protected, under the first amendment…
What’s next? You will have to ask the domestic terrorists that are making the plans for more destruction of things that hardworking Americans have sacrificed for. That would be the democrat-supremacists,blm,antifa and all who support this cult of an admin. that is ruling at the moment.
THAT IS WHY i say NO AMERICAN should pay one dime, to rebuild a SINGLE ONE of these cities, Antifa/BLM tear down. TELL THEM IF they want it rebuilt, to demand ANTIFA AND BLM PAY FOR IT!
Kyle was the victim not the 3 other men. Self defense means you were attacked and you defended your self. So Kyle is the real victim . Shouldn’t victims be protected from
lawsuit But the liberal media stills calls the 3 men victims.
TO The left, if you are white/conservative, you CANNOT BE A victim, and should not at any time, be able to defend yourself.. LIKE Tucker and hannity said, THIS WAS NOT A TRIAL about whether rittenhouse did wrong… IT WAS A MORATORIUM ON SELF DEFENSE!