The murder trial of Kyle Rittenhouse is moving to closing arguments. Both sides are using it as part of a larger culture war between Left and Right.
Summary
The murder trial for Kyle Rittenhouse, an Illinois teen accused of killing two people and injuring a third during riots in Kenosha, received the cable news treatment this week.
- On Wednesday, Rittenhouse took the stand in his own defense, and “largely corroborated” video evidence showing him attacked by three men, including one who pointed a firearm at the teen.
- Earlier in the week, Gaige Grosskreutz, the man who survived testified that Rittenhouse did not fire on him until “he moved toward Rittenhouse with his pistol pointed at him.”
- During Rittenhouse’s testimony, he said one of the deceased threatened his life twice during the night in question.
- After his own testimony, Grosskreutz conducted an interview with ABC News in which he argued Rittenhouse’s crying on the stand recounting the night was akin to “a child who had just gotten caught doing something that he wasn’t supposed to.”
- Before the case moves to closing arguments, the defense focused on a short few-minute timeframe to illustrate the frantic nature of the night in question and provide reasonable justification for Rittenhouse’s use of deadly force.
- Judge Bruce Schroeder has repeatedly scolded the prosecutors for referencing statements and material that were not allowed to be entered into evidence.
- CNN focused a joke Judge Schroeder made in breaking for lunch yesterday in which Schroeder “hoped the Asian food” being served for lunch “isn’t on one of those boats from Long Beach Harbor.” Schroeder was referencing the supply chain crisis that has left cargo ships stranded outside several West Coast ports, nevertheless it was called racist.
- A professor of public policy at Davidson College wrote in an NBC News op-ed that Rittenhouse is an avatar for millions of white Americans who “probably see themselves in Rittenhouse” – “afraid of anyone, whether white or of color, who wants to live in a more equitable country” and turning the trial into another culture war hotspot.
- In an unhinged rant, The Daily Beast’s Wajahat Ali, who recently beclowned himself on Twitter on a separate matter, similarly argued Rittenhouse is a white supremacist idol for Republicans to worship.
- OANN highlighted Rittenhouse’s testimony in his own defense, saying the prosecution “on several occasions stepped out of line” when questioning Rittenhouse.
- RedState mocked the left-wing twitter freak-out over the judge’s ringtone and his supply chain crisis joke, and pointing out that petition efforts to remove the judge from the bench are being sent to the wrong state.
- The New York Post collated the criticism of NBA superstar and Communist China apologist LeBron James for his tweets mocking Rittenhouse’s testimony.
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© Dallas Gerber, 2021
