'People's worst fears' came alive in Kenosha: Guns, militia inject chilling dimension into protests
As Kyle Rittenhouse secured a legal team Friday after being charged in the fatal shooting of two men at a protest against police brutality, demonstrators and law enforcement grapple with how the deadly gunfire in Kenosha, Wisconsin, has injected a chilling and long-feared dimension into protests.
“We have been very fortunate that shootings have been rare at demonstrations where emotions are already running high, but (Kenosha) is an example of a lot of people’s worst fears,” said Gil Kerlikowske, a former Seattle police chief who also served as Customs and Border Patrol Commissioner during the Obama administration. “We are living in unbelievably unsettling times.”
During a chaotic night of demonstration sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, Rittenhouse told reporters prior to the deadly confrontation that he was armed with a rifle to protect a local parking lot. Wisconsin law allows for gun-owners to carry their firearms in public, though it is unclear whether the Illinois 17-year-old would have been prohibited as a minor.
Illinois authorities said Friday that attorney John Pierce was now representing Rittenhouse, whose first scheduled court hearing was postponed Friday. Pierce could not be immediately reached for comment, but he vowed on Twitter to assemble a "Seal Team" of former federal prosecutors and defense attorneys to assist the teenager.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/peoples-worst-fears-came-alive-in-kenosha-guns-militia-inject-chilling-dimension-into-protests/ar-BB18talM?li=BBnb7Kz