Kyle Rittenhouse 'Supports' BLM, Says His Case Had 'Nothing to Do With Race, Was About Self-Defense'

© POOLKyle Rittenhouse testifies during his trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse
Kyle Rittenhouse testifies during his trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse - Sputnik International, 1920, 22.11.2021
Subscribe
On 19 November, a jury cleared Kyle Rittenhouse of charges of homicide, attempted homicide and reckless endangerment in the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and the wounding of Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, on 25 August 2020 during the Kenosha, Wisconsin, riots.
Kyle Rittenhouse has insisted that he supports the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement and the court case that recently saw him acquitted of five felony charges, including first-degree intentional homicide, stemming from a shooting incident that occurred during the Kenosha riots last summer, had nothing to do with race.

“… It had nothing to do with race, had to do with the right to self-defence,” Rittenhouse said in an interview filmed for Fox News host Tucker Carlson on Sunday, according to a partial transcript cited by the Daily Mail.

The teen added that he was “not a racist person”.
“I support the BLM movement and peacefully demonstrating,” said Rittenhouse in an advance clip of the interview, airing Monday night. Rittenhouse also slammed “prosecutorial misconduct” not just in his case, which has polarised the nation, but “in other cases” as well.
“I believe there's a lot of Rittenhouse. It's just amazing to see how much a prosecutor can take advantage of someone,” he said.
The Kenosha riots erupted in late August 2020 after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man wanted for sexual assault, and coincided with a nationwide Black Lives Matter protest movement over the death of George Floyd in police custody.
© AP Photo / Morry GashA protester lights a cigarette on a garbage truck that was set on fire during protests late Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis., sparked by the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha Police officer a day earlier.
A protester lights a cigarette on a garbage truck that was set on fire during protests late Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis., sparked by the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha Police officer a day earlier.  - Sputnik International, 1920, 22.11.2021
A protester lights a cigarette on a garbage truck that was set on fire during protests late Monday, Aug. 24, 2020, in Kenosha, Wis., sparked by the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha Police officer a day earlier.
On 25 August 2020, a 17-year old Rittenhouse, from Antioch, Illinois, fatally shot two white men and injured a third with his Smith and Wesson AR-style semi-automatic rifle while being chased by an angry mob. The young man had pleaded self-defence in the fatal shooting. Under cross-examination he had insisted that at the time he had no other choice than to defend himself as the protesters were a “threat to his life”.
In the interview, Rittenhouse relived his feelings immediately after the shootings.
“I tell everybody there what happened. I said I had to do it. I was just attacked. I was dizzy, I was vomiting, I couldn't breathe,” he told Tucker Carlson.
The Fox News interview is believed to have been filmed on Sunday on Boca Grande Island, where Rittenhouse and his family were reportedly seen dining in the area. Besides the interview, online subscription service Fox Nation is purportedly to air a documentary series on the case next month.
© REUTERS / BRENDAN MCDERMIDMark Richards, Kyle Rittenhouse's lead attorney, enters his office building after attending a news conference in Racine, Wisconsin, U.S., November 19, 2021
Mark Richards, Kyle Rittenhouse's lead attorney, enters his office building after attending a news conference in Racine, Wisconsin, U.S., November 19, 2021 - Sputnik International, 1920, 22.11.2021
Mark Richards, Kyle Rittenhouse's lead attorney, enters his office building after attending a news conference in Racine, Wisconsin, U.S., November 19, 2021
According to Kyle Rittenhouse's trial attorney, Mark Richards, the Fox documentary crew had been granted “exclusive behind-the-scenes access” to the defence team against his wishes. On Saturday, Justin Wells, senior executive producer of Tucker Carlson Tonight, told the AP that Fox News did not offer payment to Rittenhouse's family for any special access, footage rights, legal fees or any other purpose during or after the murder trial.
As Rittenhouse gave the pre-recorded interview, protests continued across the country over his not-guilty verdict, including in Kenosha, with some denouncing the trial's outcome as “racist”, although he and the people who were shot were all white.
Several dozen people gathered at Kenosha's Civic Center Park on Sunday to trace the route Rittenhouse took on the August night when he shot and killed two people and wounded a third during the riots. Protesters carried signs that said "Reject Racist Vigilante Terror" and "The Whole System is Guilty!"
Some protesters purportedly carried long guns. Some of the protests turned violent on Friday night, with police in Portland, Oregon, declaring a riot after demonstrators started smashing cars and store windows.
At least five people were arrested in Queens, New York City, and a group of approximately 300 protesters was reportedly seen outside the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn before marching across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan, according to The Daily Wire.
Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала