San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Kenosha verdict highlights depth of political divide
Like so much else in modern America, Friday’s acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse both revealed and widened the split between the country’s hostile political factions, with conservatives calling it a victory for the right to defend yourself and liberals condemning it as a miscarriage of justice.
Mainstream and far-right Republicans alike celebrated the not guilty verdict for Rittenhouse, an 18-year-old who last year shot and killed two men and wounded another during protests over the police shooting of a Black man in Kenosha, Wis.
In Wisconsin, Sen. Ron Johnson said that “justice has been served.” Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said on Twitter that “the Rittenhouse verdict reminds us we have the moral & legal right to self-defense.” And former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said the verdict “renews our faith in the jury system.”
On the far right, many saw the verdict as vindication and encouragement. Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina told supporters in a video that “you have a right to defend yourself ” and advised them to “be armed, be dangerous and be moral.” And on social media, one popular meme circulating among accounts associated with the far-right group the Proud Boys showed Rittenhouse in a tuxedo offering a Champagne toast.
Democrats called the verdict an endorsement of violence. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California said it was a message to “armed vigilantes” that “you can break the law, carry around weapons built for a
Marchers in New York City rally Friday against the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse, who fatally shot two men and wounded another during demonstrations over police conduct.
military, shoot and kill people, and get away with it.” And Rep. Joyce Beatty of Ohio, chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, called the verdict “unconscionable” and Rittenhouse’s self-defense claim “ludicrous.”
The case was so politicized that it drew fundraising on both sides, with at least one political action committee using anger at Rittenhouse to
raise money for progressive candidates and Rittenhouse’s supporters raising money to subsidize his legal fees.
The shooting made Rittenhouse an instant conservative celebrity. Republican politicians, in search of attention and small-dollar campaign contributions, tried tying themselves to Rittenhouse. Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Cawthorn publicly offered him
internships in their congressional offices.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler of New York, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, called for a federal review of the verdict by the Justice Department, describing it as a “miscarriage of justice.”