Kyle Rittenhouse goes to trial

[The Reformed American Republic]

and I am guessing most Americans will be unwilling to self-reflect to the point that they acknowledge they are vile and evil just for supporting the fundamental workings of their current society

I don't know what the criteria for being vile and evil is in this situation, but anyone who says I'm vile and evil can kiss my ass, and I'm sure most people will think that was as well.

[Shofercia]

Facebook's own algorithm was designed to trigger anger, which can lead to rage and violence, for the purpose of having more ads viewed on their platform. I must've missed the "enrage your family" lesson while taking the "family-friendly atmosphere" class.

Fair. I have a rant about that I've been meaning to make, but, essentially, a lot of social media companies know that they actually have an awful effect on the discourse and on their users. And they've known this for awhile. They also know that their websites are addictive because they engineered them to be that way. Still waiting for them to get treated like the tobacco companies or the industrial barons. Uncle Teddy's Ghost is gonna rise up!

Sounds like an awesome thread in the making.

He used the skateboard he had, it's not the skateboard he wished he had, or may have had at a later time.

He needed a bigger skateboard

That's not a skateboard... this is a skateboard!

[The Lone Alliance]

conservative twitter is exploding in real time as rittenhouse says that he supports BLM
omegalul

Holy based. What a madlad.

He said something along the same thing the very night of the shooting earlier on when he was talking with some of the protesters and doing stuff like giving them stuff. Which again, was against the narrative that he came there just to shoot people so the media and prosecution just accidentally forgot about.

And really if anyone has a reason to see that there are flaws with the legal system the actions of the prosecution alone gives him direct evidence that there is something wrong with justice in this country.

[Gravlen]

Holy based. What a madlad.

Well he got to see first hand at just how bad the American Legal system really is.

"I’m not a racist person. I support the BLM movement," Rittenhouse said during an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, a portion of which is slated to air on Carlson's program on Monday evening.

"I support peacefully demonstrating," the teen told Carlson, according to a transcript of the interview. "I believe there needs to be change. I believe there’s a lot of prosecutorial misconduct, not just in my case but in other cases. It’s just amazing to see how much a prosecutor can take advantage of someone."

This is the right takeaway, and I'm really happy he's saying it. Perhaps he can be a catalyst for change? One can only hope.

[Shofercia]

conservative twitter is exploding in real time as rittenhouse says that he supports BLM
omegalul

Holy based. What a madlad.

Here's the actual quote:

“I’m not a racist person. I support the BLM movement and peacefully demonstrating.”

Those who are exploding might want to read the whole story and the entire quote.

[Chan Island]

Hot take: Kyle Rittenhouse has done the smart thing by coming out and publicly supporting BLM.

Even if it is a sincere plea (which, based off the rest of what he is saying, there's no reason to doubt that), doing so muddies him in the culture war vortex that surrounds him. The right no longer see him as this perfect saint, the left no longer purely despise him as a guy who killed someone. He stops being centre of attention, he can fade back into obscurity and try to lead a normal life.

[Wolkenburg]

I've seen some shit takes on this trial but 'he should've just allowed him to be beaten with a skateboard' is defintely one of the dumbest.

I think it's the toxic masculinity that does it for me.

I'm not trying to be mean, ugly, or dismissive here, but the whole "A REAL MAN would take getting beaten up because he's TOUGH and MANLY and not a SOFTBOI" angle always bugs me. I think some of that might be because a lot of men and boys wind up getting killed because of these sorts of attitudes, but also because, as a woman, it just strikes me as really, really dumb. It's weird to care about being the manliest man that ever manned while someone is trying to seriously injure you or to put a brave face on when someone is emotionally abusing you or you're hurting. Not to mention I don't think these are legal arguments in this particular case.

EDIT: I really want to emphasize that I'm not calling any particular person out on this. I know a couple people in particular made this argument, but I think promoting toxic masculinity is something a lot of people do without realizing it. I've probably done it several times in the past without meaning to. So I'm not saying people who slip up are bad people. I just want to stress this.

I don't think that is anything to do with toxic masculinity. The only time I have heard of someone refusing to defend themselves, and therefore get beat up, it was a woman cop.

I do think that it is an appropriate question for the jury, because it is at the heart of the case. The most important question is was it reasonable for Rittenhouse to use deadly force. Now a gun is more deadly than a skateboard, but even a hand can be considered a deadly weapon. So obviously I think it was reasonable and the jury agreed. However, I have heard similar arguments in different cases. Most notably it was argued that Zimmermann should not have shot Martin, because the later was only punching the former and therefore deadly force was not actually justified. However, the people who argued that also made clear that if Zimmermann died and Martin lived, that would have been an improvement for justice.

Conor Friedersdorf made an argument in the Atlantic that police often way the risk to their advantage. I forget what he exactly say, but the basic idea is that the police prioritize their own safety maybe too much. That is a cop could wait a second before shooting, this increasing the risk of being shot, but decreasing the possibility of misidentification of a harmless object. That makes a lot of sense, and what little I know of Police training the emphasis is more on "make sure the bad guys don't shoot you" than "Make sure you don't shoot someone, even a bad guy unnecessarily."

[Thermodolia]

Well this is messed up.BREAKING: Multiple People Injured After Person Driving SUV Plows Through Waukesha Christmas Parade – Reports of Gunshots (VIDEO) waukesha is an hour from kenosha.
Buddy of mine opined if this could be related to rittenhouse being found not guilty verdict?

Nah, probably just a horribly drunk driver.

Like, really drunk.

According to people there they seemed to hit people at random and where swerving all over the place. I’m betting that they where drunk and high.

[Just-An-Illusion]

Well he got to see first hand at just how bad the American Legal system really is.

"I’m not a racist person. I support the BLM movement," Rittenhouse said during an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, a portion of which is slated to air on Carlson's program on Monday evening.

"I support peacefully demonstrating," the teen told Carlson, according to a transcript of the interview. "I believe there needs to be change. I believe there’s a lot of prosecutorial misconduct, not just in my case but in other cases. It’s just amazing to see how much a prosecutor can take advantage of someone."

This is the right takeaway, and I'm really happy he's saying it. Perhaps he can be a catalyst for change? One can only hope.

While I'm glad that Kyle is pro-BLM, I have a feeling some of the people that lean left on Twitter will just dismiss his support as a lie.

[Ragnox]

Regardless of Rittenhouse's innocence or otherwise, the Internet it is being really divided about this, this will lead to more accidents like this one. Why does the human race have to drive themself into non-existence.

[Kubra]

I think the main takeaway from the case was that at no point did having a gun make anything better for anyone, they're probably going to be brought in even greater numbers to ritual protest.
That is of course everyone's fault, not just Rittenhouse.

[Ifreann]

I think the main takeaway from the case was that at no point did having a gun make anything better for anyone, they're probably going to be brought in even greater numbers to ritual protest.
That is of course everyone's fault, not just Rittenhouse.

Saying that guns made a situation worse? Well just for that I am going to buy 19 guns.

[Lady Victory]

I think the main takeaway from the case was that at no point did having a gun make anything better for anyone, they're probably going to be brought in even greater numbers to ritual protest.
That is of course everyone's fault, not just Rittenhouse.

Oh boy, a wild "guns bad" take.

Yes, let's discourage gun ownership in a time when Far Right terrorism and police-sanctioned murder is on the rise. Surely this is the most logical move.

[Ragnox]

I think the main takeaway from the case was that at no point did having a gun make anything better for anyone, they're probably going to be brought in even greater numbers to ritual protest.
That is of course everyone's fault, not just Rittenhouse.

Oh boy, a wild "guns bad" take.

Yes, let's discourage gun ownership in a time when Far Right terrorism and police-sanctioned murder is on the rise. Surely this is the most logical move.

Guns should be more of a home defense thing and maybe carrying a handgun for protection in public. I don't blame the kid for bringing the AR, still shouldn't be a norm for protesters or just civilians to be walkin around with AR's. Guns are important and needed, just with some discipline.

[Salus Maior]

I think the main takeaway from the case was that at no point did having a gun make anything better for anyone, they're probably going to be brought in even greater numbers to ritual protest.
That is of course everyone's fault, not just Rittenhouse.

I doubt Rosembaum really cared about the gun.

[Galloism]

Oh boy, a wild "guns bad" take.

Yes, let's discourage gun ownership in a time when Far Right terrorism and police-sanctioned murder is on the rise. Surely this is the most logical move.

Guns should be more of a home defense thing and maybe carrying a handgun for protection in public. I don't blame the kid for bringing the AR, still shouldn't be a norm for protesters or just civilians to be walkin around with AR's. Guns are important and needed, just with some discipline.

Yeah, they discussed this during the trial. The reason for having a rifle is that he wasn't legally allowed to have a handgun.

Handguns are regulated a lot more tightly than rifles, for good reason (almost nobody gets killed by people with rifles, it's even rarer being killed unlawfully by the user of a rifle, and almost fucking unheard of being killed unlawfully by a minor using a rifle). There's no particular reason to be afraid of people having rifles, given rifles are used so rarely in such things.


Also, no one else is covering it, but with the sudden widespread understanding regarding the gun laws, a father and daughter are now protecting anti-rittenhouse protestors while armed with AR-15s. A family that patrols together stays together.

[Ragnox]

Guns should be more of a home defense thing and maybe carrying a handgun for protection in public. I don't blame the kid for bringing the AR, still shouldn't be a norm for protesters or just civilians to be walkin around with AR's. Guns are important and needed, just with some discipline.

Yeah, they discussed this during the trial. The reason for having a rifle is that he wasn't legally allowed to have a handgun.

Handguns are regulated a lot more tightly than rifles, for good reason (almost nobody gets killed by people with rifles, it's even rarer being killed unlawfully by the user of a rifle, and almost fucking unheard of being killed unlawfully by a minor using a rifle). There's no particular reason to be afraid of people having rifles, given rifles are used so rarely in such things.


Also, no one else is covering it, but with the sudden widespread understanding regarding the gun laws, a father and daughter are now protecting anti-rittenhouse protestors while armed with AR-15s. A family that patrols together stays together.

Oh wow, ok then.

[Salus Maior]

Guns should be more of a home defense thing and maybe carrying a handgun for protection in public. I don't blame the kid for bringing the AR, still shouldn't be a norm for protesters or just civilians to be walkin around with AR's. Guns are important and needed, just with some discipline.

Yeah, they discussed this during the trial. The reason for having a rifle is that he wasn't legally allowed to have a handgun.

Handguns are regulated a lot more tightly than rifles, for good reason (almost nobody gets killed by people with rifles, it's even rarer being killed unlawfully by the user of a rifle, and almost fucking unheard of being killed unlawfully by a minor using a rifle). There's no particular reason to be afraid of people having rifles, given rifles are used so rarely in such things.


Also, no one else is covering it, but with the sudden widespread understanding regarding the gun laws, a father and daughter are now protecting anti-rittenhouse protestors while armed with AR-15s. A family that patrols together stays together.

“I probably wouldn’t have fired my gun”

Lol ok, girl. Tell yourself whatever lies you want.

[Galloism]

Yeah, they discussed this during the trial. The reason for having a rifle is that he wasn't legally allowed to have a handgun.

Handguns are regulated a lot more tightly than rifles, for good reason (almost nobody gets killed by people with rifles, it's even rarer being killed unlawfully by the user of a rifle, and almost fucking unheard of being killed unlawfully by a minor using a rifle). There's no particular reason to be afraid of people having rifles, given rifles are used so rarely in such things.


Also, no one else is covering it, but with the sudden widespread understanding regarding the gun laws, a father and daughter are now protecting anti-rittenhouse protestors while armed with AR-15s. A family that patrols together stays together.

Oh wow, ok then.

Oh yes. Rifles are almost never used in crime.

According to the FBI, in 2019, 364 were killed with rifles (this generally encompasses both legal and illegal shootings from the perspective of the shooter because of how felony murder works). This compares with 6,368 with handguns.

Comparatively, 600 were killed by hands and feet, 397 by blunt objects, and 1,476 by knives.

Do you see why they're not very tightly regulated?

[Northern Socialist Council Republics]

While I'm glad that Kyle is pro-BLM, I have a feeling some of the people that lean left on Twitter will just dismiss his support as a lie.

I mean, he did attend a protest/riot as a medic, so whatever he feels about leftists I doubt that it’s hatred. Given his, uh, ‘I want to shoot shoplifters’ line of commentary, I’m convinced that he’s still very firmly lodged in the conservative cultural/intellectual sphere, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. A willingness to help mend the nation’s divides and foster common-sense solutions to divisive issues, first by providing assistance in the Jacob Black protests and then now by expressing himself in inclusive terms, is a very respectable intention, even if the execution was... less than inspired, shall we say.

Of course, that’s a charitable interpretation of his actions and it could be that he went to Kenosha with full hostility to the protest’s participants and aims and that his recent remarks are nothing more than a charade to try and get some fire off his back, but as I have previously said in an unrelated discussion about Romanovs, I am firmly of the belief that we should strive to interpret people’s actions in a charitable manner and accept their own rationales for their choices, unless there is compelling reason to do otherwise.

If Kyle says he is supportive of the BLM movement’s overall aims, I am inclined to believe him unless evidence to the contrary surfaces - and so far, no such evidence has. And I am sure that the same is true for many people who share my broad ideological stances.

Twitter is reflective of broad popular opinion in the same sense that my young screaming hair-puller cousins are engaging in productive academic debate.

[Elwher]

Nah, probably just a horribly drunk driver.

Like, really drunk.

According to people there they seemed to hit people at random and where swerving all over the place. I’m betting that they where drunk and high.

No one needs an SUV. They make killing people in large numbers easier and need to be taken out of the hands of civilians.

[Andronya]

No one needs an SUV. They make killing people in large numbers easier and need to be taken out of the hands of civilians.

Don't even give them ideas, the way this is going, people are going to end up calling to ban fists since people can beat each other to death.

[Kerwa]

Twitter is reflective of broad popular opinion in the same sense that my young screaming hair-puller cousins are engaging in productive academic debate.

Liberal arts professors?

[Kubra]

I think the main takeaway from the case was that at no point did having a gun make anything better for anyone, they're probably going to be brought in even greater numbers to ritual protest.
That is of course everyone's fault, not just Rittenhouse.

Oh boy, a wild "guns bad" take.

Yes, let's discourage gun ownership in a time when Far Right terrorism and police-sanctioned murder is on the rise. Surely this is the most logical move.

Guns have times and places, and ritual protests are usually not an appropriate time or place. It's a little below hockey riots in terms of "place you shouldn't bring guns", and really only a little higher in terms of actual political relevance.
Say what you will about cops, they're generally averse to bringing live ammo to protests after they had a few, ah, "mishaps". Kinda funny they didn't learn it after the tragicomedy of haymarket, but hey.

[CoraSpia]

While I'm glad that Kyle is pro-BLM, I have a feeling some of the people that lean left on Twitter will just dismiss his support as a lie.

I mean, he did attend a protest/riot as a medic, so whatever he feels about leftists I doubt that it’s hatred. Given his, uh, ‘I want to shoot shoplifters’ line of commentary, I’m convinced that he’s still very firmly lodged in the conservative cultural/intellectual sphere, but there’s nothing inherently wrong with that. A willingness to help mend the nation’s divides and foster common-sense solutions to divisive issues, first by providing assistance in the Jacob Black protests and then now by expressing himself in inclusive terms, is a very respectable intention, even if the execution was... less than inspired, shall we say.

Of course, that’s a charitable interpretation of his actions and it could be that he went to Kenosha with full hostility to the protest’s participants and aims and that his recent remarks are nothing more than a charade to try and get some fire off his back, but as I have previously said in an unrelated discussion about Romanovs, I am firmly of the belief that we should strive to interpret people’s actions in a charitable manner and accept their own rationales for their choices, unless there is compelling reason to do otherwise.

If Kyle says he is supportive of the BLM movement’s overall aims, I am inclined to believe him unless evidence to the contrary surfaces - and so far, no such evidence has. And I am sure that the same is true for many people who share my broad ideological stances.

Twitter is reflective of broad popular opinion in the same sense that my young screaming hair-puller cousins are engaging in productive academic debate.

To be honest, it would have been very easy for him to go full conservative, or at least to create a media image of himself as such; this makes me think that there's more chance of him telling the truth here.
Sounds a lot like he generally agrees with the message of blm about police brutality, but doesn't agree with the whole destroying private property because you're angry thing. Very similar to my own views in that respect.