Black Americans see bias in Rittenhouse acquittal
Verdict viewed as sign of two justice systems
– For many Black Americans, Kyle Rittenhouse’s acquittal on all charges by a Wisconsin jury on Friday confirmed their belief in two justice systems: one for white people and another for Black people.
Rittenhouse, the two men he killed and the man he wounded were all white, but the case has been linked from the start to issues of race and the criminal justice system.
Activists have previously pointed to differences in how police handled Rittenhouse’s case and that of Jacob Blake, the Black man who was shot by a white Kenosha police officer in August 2020, sparking protests in the city that became destructive and violent.
Video footage played during the trial showed Rittenhouse running toward police still wearing his rifle, and continuing past the police line at officers’ direction. He turned himself in to police in Antioch, Illinois, early the following day.
And though Kenosha prosecutors filed serious charges that had the potential to put Rittenhouse in prison for life, the criminal trial also struck many activists as unusually deferential to the defendant.
Black activists in Kenosha said the verdict showed they need to continue pushing for change in their city and state – in local elections, in education and in changes to policing.
“You cannot tell me that these institutions are not sick,” said Kyle Johnson, an organizer with Black Leaders Orgaards nizing Communities. “You cannot tell me that these institutions are not tainted with racism.”
Many legal experts had said Rittenhouse had a strong argument for selfdefense under Wisconsin law and could be acquitted.
Still, Judge Bruce Schroeder’s handling of the case drew scrutiny at several points, including when he said before it began that the men Rittenhouse shot could not be referred to as “victims” – a longstanding rule in his courtroom. Schroeder led a round of applause for military veterans just as a defense witness who had served in the Army was about to testify, and let Rittenhouse himself draw juror numbers to dismiss alternates – his longstanding practice.
Local attorneys characterized most of the 75-year-old judge’s rulings and methods as typical for his courtroom and within the boundaries of the law, and Rittenhouse attorney Mark RICHCHICAGO
said he had “never seen so much made of so little.”
But others questioned whether Schroeder’s decisions influenced the jury.
“From the outset, this case has pulled back the curtain on the profound cracks in our justice system – from the deep bias routinely and unabashedly displayed by the judge, to the apathy of officers who witnessed Rittenhouse’s crimes and did nothing,” said Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer who has represented the families of Jacob Blake, Trayvon Martin and Ahmaud Arbery. “If we were talking about a Black man, the conversation and outcome would be starkly different.”
Rittenhouse’s acquittal created fear that protesters against racial injustice and other causes will be in danger from right-wing causes that already deemed Rittenhouse a hero after the shootings.