Former US President Donald Trump has praised the jury's decision in the Kyle Rittenhouse case suggesting that the teen should not have been put on trial in the first place. Trump argued that the case against the Kenosha shooter should have been dropped long ago and the fact that it made it to court was "prosecutorial misconduct".
The ex-POTUS went on to assert that Rittenhouse, who killed two men and injured a third during August 2020 protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was not guilty and that he was the "poster boy" for "innocence based on self-defence".
"I think that it was a great decision. I was surprised it had to go this far. Somebody should have ended it earlier. Frankly, the case should have never been brought".
Trump went on to praise the jury for making the "right" decision despite facing outside pressure to make the "wrong" one. The jury's "not guilty" on all accounts prompted heated arguments online in the wake of the trial, with some people condemning their decision, while others insisted that Rittenhouse was rightly acquitted.
US President Joe Biden also chipped in, saying he was "angry and concerned" about the jury's ruling. He, however, insisted that people should "acknowledge" that the "jury has spoken". Trump, in turn, suggested that someone had put those words in the president's mouth and wondered how anyone could be angry when one "sees justice" served.
Rittenhouse faced seven charges, including two counts of homicide, but one of them, unlawful possession of a firearm, was dropped by the judge. The latter ruled that Wisconsin laws were ambiguous in terms of whether then-17-year-old Rittenhouse could legally possess a rifle. He was cleared of the remaining six charges by the jury.
The teen insisted that he acted in self-defence, when he fatally shot two men, who chased him and tried to grab his rifle during BLM protests in Kenosha on 25 August 2020. Rittenhouse also non-fatally shot a third man, who was approaching him with a Glock pistol in his hand as the teen was trying to get up from the ground. Rittenhouse surrendered to the authorities soon after the shooting took place.