(from Nov 29, 2021)
Paul Reen
President, Republicans in France
His not guilty verdict and how the Left’s lies have created a toxic and polarized America.
On Nov 19, a jury in the State of Wisconsin found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty, for the reason of self-defense, of all 5 charges against him, including 2 counts of murder during a BLM (Black Lives Matter) riot in Aug 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. For over one year leading up to the trial, Rittenhouse was denied key U.S. judicial principles of “the right to due process” and “innocent until proven guilty”. The case had already been tried in the court of public opinion and completely politicized by the left-wing media and politicians long before the evidence was presented to a jury. The left-wing mob had rushed to judgment and had convicted Rittenhouse on all counts and guilty of being a vigilante, white supremacist, active shooter with the intention to hunt down and kill Black Americans. These accusations are blatant, ugly lies and they had absolutely nothing to do with race. The case determined whether or not the evidence supported two fundamental constitutional American rights that have become nearly foreign to most French and Europeans – “the right to self-defense” and the “right to bear arms”. As the evidence was overwhelming that Rittenhouse was not guilty on all charges, it demands revisiting what happened before, during, and after the trial
Before the trial
In August 2020 there was a BLM “protest” that was demanding justice for Jacob Blake who, according to the Left, was an unarmed black man in Kenosha who was shot and killed by a racist white police officer. The truth is that Jacob Blake had a warrant out for his arrest for domestic abuse and a restraining order prohibiting him from approaching her home where she lived with her children. Blake went to her home anyway and she called the police. Blake threatened the police with a knife and attempted to get into her car, with her child, defying police commands. The police then justifiably shot Blake but did not kill him. So the riots in Kenosha were already based on lies from the media, lies of omission that continue today. It was chaos in Kenosha because the Wisconsin Democrat Governor instructed the small number of police present not to intervene. It was only 2 months after the killing of George Floyd and there was a wave of anti-police sentiment among Democrat leaders. Rittenhouse, who works in Kenosha and his father lives there, was asked to help protect the property of a specific business and he also tried to provide first aid to whoever needed it.
The Media’s actions since Aug 2020 had been to smear Rittenhouse as well as anyone who defended him. Even then-candidate Biden, during the 2020 Primaries sent a tweet with a picture of Rittenhouse, implying that he was a white supremacist. Social media immediately went into cancel mode. Rittenhouse does not come from a wealthy family and he tried to start a GoFundMe account to help pay for his legal fees but GoFundMe banned and deleted his account. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube censored any posts that supported his right to self-defense. Left-wing “fact-checkers” spread false information about the legality of Rittenhouse’s right to possess a gun.
During the trial
The jury determined that Rittenhouse’s lethal use of self-defense was justified under Wisconsin Law, as he felt that his life was in “imminent danger” from the attacks of all three men. Two of the three attackers went to grab Rittenhouse’s gun and could have then turned the gun around and killed him. The third assailant clearly pointed a loaded gun at Rittenhouse’s head. Any death is tragic, but in this case, a jury decided that Rittenhouse’s actions were justified. The judge and jury also ruled that he never transported his gun over state lines and that he had a legal right to possess it. Despite the media’s smears that Rittenhouse was a racist vigilante, the televised court case exposed the harsh reality to the Left that Rittenhouse is white and all 3 attackers were also white. This came as a shock to many viewers who, despite videos being available since 2020, had believed that the 3 attackers were black. The 1st white man shot by Rittenhouse, Joseph Rosenbaum, threatened to kill Rittenhouse, chased him, cornered him between cars, and lunged at his gun before he was killed. Rittenhouse was then running toward the police line when he was chased by a mob, knocked to the ground, and kicked in the head. The 2nd white man shot by Rittenhouse, Anthony Huber, who had already hit Rittenhouse once with his skateboard, hit him again in the head while he was on the ground and then grabbed Rittenhouse’s gun before he was killed. The 3rd white man, Gaige Grosskreutz, then rushed to Rittenhouse and pointed a loaded gun at his head. Rittenhouse was able to shoot Grosskreutz’s arm only, disarming him but not killing him.
The media called the judge a racistand provoked more riots if the jury did not convict Rittenhouse. The jury, despite enormous pressure from left-wing activists at the courthouse, displayed courage and impartiality to make their verdict, based on the law. What was not made known to the jury beforehand was that Rosenbaum was an unstable, convicted child molester who had repeatedly raped young boys between the ages of 9-11, was imprisoned for 10 years and the day he was released from a mental facility, went to Kenosha and attacked Rittenhouse. Nor did they know that the two other attackers, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz had long criminal records. Huber was found guilty of domestic abuse. These are the men now called “selfless heroes” by the Left.
The aftermath
The aftermath of the jury’s acquittal shows just how toxic and politically polarized the country is today. Instead of taking time to reflect on the evidence and truth revealed during the trial, the media have immediately screamed with outrage. MSNBC’s Joy Reid said, “Anyone who supports Black Lives Matter should be very afraid tonight”. CNN’s Chris Cuomo called Rittenhouse a “chump…filled with animus” and made it obvious he was against the right to self-defense calling the Wisconsin law a “shooters dream. Democrat politicians joined the media mob. Jerry Nadler, Democrat House Judiciary Chairman, is calling for a federal review of the case by the U.S. DOJ (Department of Justice). If the DOJ were to overturn the jury verdict it would be an unprecedented overreach of government power. Democrat Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the verdict is about protecting the privileged, saying “What we are witnessing is a system functioning as designed and protecting those it was designed for.” Democrat Rep. Cori Bush called the acquittal “white supremacy in action.” President Biden, who at first said that we should all respect the jury’s decision, was over-ruled by his handlers and published a written statement afterward saying he was “…angry and concerned” about the verdict, and Vice President Harris said, “…the verdict really speaks for itself. …I’ve spent most of my career working to make criminal justice reform more equitable and clearly there is a lot more work to be done”.
The Left in America is infuriated because they typically control the narrative with their media and academic allies but the one narrative that they cannot control is the decision of a jury. Kyle Rittenhouse will forever be tainted by the false accusations of the Left and he should sue all that slandered him.
Waukesha
Tragically, just this past Sunday, Nov 21, a crazed killer, Darrell Brooks, crashed his SUV through a Christmas Parade in Waukesha WI, not far from Kenosha. At the time of this writing, he killed 6 people (one child) and injured over 60, including 17 children. This African American man was a lifelong criminal, domestic abuser, and pedophile. No motive has been released for this evil attack yet but we know he has made racist, anti-white social media posts and is a BLM activist. Just earlier this month he allegedly ran over the mother of his own child. In response, the Democrat, Wisconsin Prosecutor recommended only $1000 cash bail and after paying it, he was released pending a court date. So this killer should not have even been out of jail! Democrats, including Biden and Harris, have been pushing to eliminate cash bail since the 2020 BLM riots, in the spirit of “equity” of course! Immediately after the attack, some Leftists posted disgusting social media responses. One example is the social media director for the Democrat Party in Illinois, Mary Lemanski, who said mockingly “I guess this was self-defense” and “The blood of Kyle Rittenhouse victims is on the hands of Wisconsin citizens, even the children….you reap what you sow” The Democrat Chapter in Illinois reportedly fired the woman which is a good development but not nearly enough. This evil display of hatred and ignorance by the Left is what risks destroying America from within. The media coverage of this tragedy caused by a BLM Democrat domestic terrorist has been pathetic, nothing compared to the abhorrent coverage and defamation of Kyle Rittenhouse.
There is a massive political divide in the U.S. because of the many deliberate and malicious lies spread by the Left. They accelerated under Obama’s Presidency and continue under Biden. To name just a few- that the US is an unfair country based on white privilege and systemic racism against people of color is a lie; that Critical Race Theory is not being taught to our children in US schools and that parents objecting to this racist curriculum are akin to “domestic terrorists” is a lie, that law-abiding citizens with guns are the reason for the massive increase in U.S. crime is a lie, that Supreme Court Justice Bret Kavanaugh committed gang rape is a lie, that a Catholic high school student, Nick Sandman, is racist simply for wearing a Trump MAGA hat is a lie, that racist US Border Control Agents were whipping brown migrants is a lie, that Trump colluded with Russia to steal the 2016 election from Hillary Clinton is a lie, that Trump called Nazis “very fine people” is a lie. And the list goes on and on and Biden refuses to condemn any of it, he regularly promotes them all.
None of these lies help unify America, they create hatred and division. As the newly elected Republican Lt Governor of Virginia and an African American woman, Winsome Sears, said “Americans are tired of the Black against White, the Asian against Latino. They’re tired of it, and they’re tired of politicians who won’t let the wounds of the past heal.” She is so right. America needs to come together and it starts with leadership that speaks the truth, not “my” truth or “your” truth but “the” truth. For the sake of the future of America, let’s hope Republicans take back power in ’22 and ’24 and until then we must all stand up and be brave like the Kenosha jury.
United to Keep America Great 