Kyle Rittenhouse pretended to be a cop

[Mortos]

now, he is using the tried and true cop defense for shooting people.

I feared for my life. Check
He reached for my gun. Check
I fired until the threat was eliminated. Check
I used force to defend myself. Check
If he had taken my gun, he would have killed me or others. Check
I used the legal amount of force authorized to protect myself and others. Check.
He reached for my gun (again). Check
I was protecting property and lives. Check.

He was coached on his testimony to the point of being robotic to repeat these legal justifications for use of deadly force by a legally armed law enforcement officer, which he repeated ad nauseum, no matter the question posed by the prosecutor.

The prosecution has been inconsistent and ineffective, in my opinion. They should have hammered over and over again in Kyle's cross-examination that he should have never had the gun in the first place. That the people he shot were upholding the law by trying to disarm a criminal. He was carrying an illegally obtained weapon. That he knew he wasn't legally allowed to possess the AR15. That he knowingly committed multiple crimes prior to shooting people with his illegally obtained and possessed gun. He was pretending to be cop and EMT. He is still pretending to be a cop and medic in his testimony. It benefits the defense to have him viewed as such. Fuck, he even looks like a cop with his haircut and his blue suit.

I have met dozens of these cop wannabe teenagers. They are all the same. They worship law enforcement and are in awe of the ability to have power over and use violence against others. Many of them end up on the police force. Watching him strut around with his gun and arrogance during the protests only reinforces this image.

I believe that he will be acquitted of the most serious charges unless there is a hung jury. The best bet for conviction is a mistrial (without prejudice) and start this thing all over again with a different judge and a better line of questioning from prosecutors.

Can you imagine how quickly a black 17-year-old, carrying an illegally obtained assault rifle would be convicted of murder if he went to a right-wing anti-vax protest and shot people who tried to disarm him?

[WHITT]

1. Yep

The best bet for conviction is a mistrial (without prejudice) and start this thing all over again with a different judge and a better line of questioning from prosecutors.

Damn judge is part of the defense team.

[murielm99]

26. So is the prosecutor.

I have to stop watching this crap on Court TV. I am gobsmacked by the direction this trial is taking.

[Hoyt]

2. Another gun-humping, Hero-Wannabe. When are we going to learn?

[Kingofalldems]

3. Here he is:

?quality=65&strip=all&w=525

He has some internet pals fighting for him I notice.

[Mortos]

4. A child playing dress up

[Boydog]

9. As a school administrator I saw many kids like him

most of whom fit the standard profile. Most of the time it was boys with absentee or deceased fathers and single moms who feel sorry for their son’s lack of male influence and mentorship. As a result, they make excuses for their son’s behavior and become enablers. This explains why a seventeen year old would be in another state under violent conditions with an assault rifle. His mother should be in jail for allowing her underage son to do this.
Rittenhouse fits the profile perfectly.

[Texin]

21. She didn't just "allow" him to go, she DROVE him there! WTF!

[csziggy]

24. No, she didn't - his friend drove him there

And the gun was at the friend's father's house - they did not carry a gun across state lines.

>>>>>>>

Kyle Rittenhouse and friend Dominick Black initially went to Kenosha to help clean graffiti off a school, according to his mother and Pierce. While there, they learned about a used car dealership that had been hit particularly hard the night before and offered to protect the business.

>>>>>>>>>

Wendy Rittenhouse repeatedly declined to discuss what she knew about her son’s semi-automatic rifle. Police reports indicate Black, then 18, bought the gun for Kyle Rittenhouse earlier this year at a northern Wisconsin hardware store. Black, who was with Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha that night, kept the gun at his stepfather’s house in Wisconsin, police said.

Black told investigators that Wendy Rittenhouse was going to apply for a firearm owner’s identification card in Illinois so they could legally keep the gun in Antioch, according to police reports.

>>>>>>>>>>

Social media users accused Wendy Rittenhouse of driving her son to Kenosha that day, sharing a picture of a woman who is not her as proof. In reality, she was 20 miles away in Illinois, getting a COVID-19 test required for her job and running errands with her oldest daughter, she said.

More: https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-kyle-rittenhouse-mother-kenosha-20201110-ikckkevit5epzjydc52szyog34-story.html

[Texin]

40. Sorry, I read elsewhere (or saw it) that she'd driven him. I don't know/didn't know

that it wasn't correct, but she seems to be a big booster of whatev her spawn wants to do.

[csziggy]

41. It was an early internet meme and still persists

So the mistake is understandable.

[jmowreader]

8. Is it just me...

…or does he look made up in that photo?

[jmowreader]

12. I would lean more toward incel than trans

Google “looksmax.” This is a thing in the incel subculture where they try to pretty themselves up to attempt to attract women. Makeup is an important part of it.

[yardwork]

14. I think he's just very young. He looks 16 on that photo.

He's a child. Adults - especially his mom - failed him.

[Texin]

23. He looks like one of those boys in photos of Hitler Youth troops back in 30s-40s.

[Whatthe_Firetruck]

35. Tomorrow belongs to me...

From Caberet.

[Haggard Celine]

5. Yep, he's just another wannabe causing mayhem.

He was basically impersonating an officer while he killed those people. A prosecutor should be hammering that home to the jury. He went there posing as an officer and a medic, all the while carrying an illegally obtained weapon and looking for trouble. It didn't take long for him to find it, either. He was hoping he'd have the opportunity to do what he did, and he made his wishes come true. He's a cold-blooded premeditated murderer.

[Snoopy 7]

6. "just the facts mamm"

He was there to help assist without medical equipment or supplies. Also, he was there to clean graffiti also without cleaning supplies. All he ended up taking with him was an automatic people killer. So I guess he was going to shoot the injured to put them out of their misery and he was also going to shoot the graffiti off the buildings?????? (just asking)

[yagotme]

36. He was carrying a pouch with 1st aid supplies,

and had a small case with extra supplies.

The AR-15, which was already there in WI, is semi-auto, not "automatic". Yes, legally, there is a difference.

(just answering)

[Ray Bruns]

7. The prosecution has been inconsistent and ineffective, in my opinion.

The prosecution has been ineffective because you have a judge that constantly interrupts them and is bending over and spreading his A$$ cheeks for the defense.

[yardwork]

13. Well said. He'll probably become a cop after he's acquitted.

The whole thing is sickening.

[George II]

15. Regarding your last question:

Can you imagine how quickly a black 17-year-old, carrying an illegally obtained assault rifle would be convicted of murder if he went to a right-wing anti-vax protest and shot people who tried to disarm him?

That's if he made it through the evening alive.

[FoxNewsSucks]

20. That was my first thought also

If it had been a black teenager, he'd never have lived to be arrested, much less stand trial.

[KS Toronado]

22. That was my first thought also

[FakeNoose]

16. Clearly he's being coached by cops

They're telling him how to beat the rap - because they've all been through it themselves.

I don't know about the crying part, maybe that's his own little play for sympathy.
Just reminding everyone that he's "still a kid."

[gulliver]

17. The problem is honor for and tolerance of street protest/riots

They should not be honored or tolerated, either from the left or the right. They're (the protest side of the protest/riot) only a good way to express free speech in principle. They just don't work in modern reality with its Internet and AR-15s. Too many numbskulls, loons, and criminals simply use protest/riots as opportunities for numbskullery, looniness, and criminality.

Obviously, I'm not saying "protests" should be outlawed, only that the vast majority of rightminded people should judge the vast majority of protests as worthless at best. The bad people always show up and ruin everything.

[SergeStorms]

18. His only real reason for being there....

was so he could shoot, and hopefully kill, people. That's it. He was overjoyed that he got to shoot people. He was photographed with a "Proud Boy" or two, after his shooting spree, and he couldn't have been happier.

The prosecutor in this case, along with the obviously right-wing judge, are both part of the defense team, IMO. Or it surely seems that way.

This mentally disturbed kid is going to walk, and some Police "Farce" in this country will snap him up and put him out in the world with a real license to kill. This is what this country has devolved into.

[Cryptoad]

19. Iv been to War with Badass wannabes like him

They were the first one crying like a baby tryin to dig a hole when teh lead starts whezzing by,,,,, a Real MAGE Warrior thug ....

[momta]

25. Thanks, Mortos.

This is one of the best posts I've seen about the problems going on in this trial.

[TNNurse]

27. I have not watched.

I wonder if the prosecution asked my first two questions.

"Why were you there?"
" How did you get that weapon'?

There are no answers to either question that are acceptable.

[Ohio Joe]

28. A black 17YO would not have survived to trial...

The same cops that passed Rittenhouse would have gunned him down.

[2naSalit]

29. Cosplay.

[MrHmm]

30. Scary

I just heard on Thom Hartmann that the judges ringtone that went off, was the Trump campaign theme song. Between that and how the judge refused the prosecution the term “victims” and instead they must use “looters” or “rioters,” means the judge is giving the jury loopholes for acquittal.

I’m pulling for a hung jury or mistrial.

[Jedi Guy]

42. Oh good grief.

First, the judge has a longstanding rule about using the word "victim" in his courtroom. He didn't come up with it just for this trial to protect Rittenhouse.

Second, he did not say they must use the terms "looters" or "rioters." He told the defense they could call them that if the defense had evidence that they had engaged in those behaviors. And even then he advised them against doing so, from what I read on CNN.

I do not understand why this ridiculous notion refuses to die when the facts are readily available.

As for his ringtone, so what? The song existed long before Trump made it his campaign theme. If Trump had created a new song and the judge had that as his ringtone it would be different. But that song is from 1984. All it proves is that he has shitty taste in music.

[Politicub]

31. This trial is a masterclass in how to get away with killing someone. N/t

On edit: for white people.

[AverageOldGuy]

32. A black 17-yr-old carrying an AR-15 . . . . . .

. . . would not have lived to stand trial.

[634-5789]

33. Throw that goddamn murderer AND his mother in jail. Forever.

Can't stand to watch his smirky little ass

[ShazzieB]

34. The idea of a Black kid doing what he did and getting away with it is Twilight Zone level fantasy.

A Black teenager walking around with an assault rifle slung over his shoulder would have been arrested by the first cop who saw him, before he had a chance to shoot anybody.

And that's IF he was lucky. If he wasn't so lucky, there would been no arrest, no trial, and no conviction; just another case of a poc murdered by the cops.

[Blue Owl]

37. A young Derek Chauvin

Getting ready to someday put his knee on those he considers scum…

[LetMyPeopleVote]

38. Stop or I'll use this AR-15 to give you life-ending first aid

Link to tweet

[bullwinkle428]

43. So did George Zimmerman. The parallels are just ridiculous.