'White supremacy in action': Civil rights activists fume at Rittenhouse acquittal

Racial tensions are running high in the United States after the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse following a closely-watched and polarizing murder trial, with civil rights groups warning that the November 19 verdict will set the stage for more vigilante and political violence in the country.

Rittenhouse, a white teenager who fatally shot two people and wounded another with an AR-15-style rifle during anti-racism protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year, was cleared of all charges against him on Friday. A jury of five men and seven women deliberated the case over four days. The verdict cannot be appealed.

Reactions to the verdict have been as polarizing as the trial itself. Civil rights advocates and liberal leaders denounced the acquittal as being indicative of a broken justice system and a harbinger of lawless vigilantism and domestic terrorism, while ultra-conservatives celebrated the verdict as a victory.

US jury finds white supremacist Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges in the murder trial

A US white teenager who shot dead two men and wounded a third during racial justice protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin has been cleared of all charges, including intentional homicide, which carries a life sentence.

Civil rights activist Rev. Al Sharpton said the verdict was an "obvious signal that encourages and notifies 'vigilantes' that they can continue to use violence to assert their power, and more importantly that they are above the criminal justice system when they do."

Rittenhouse had pleaded not guilty and testified during the trial that he had acted in self-defense. He was 17 at the time of the shootings.

The trial, the most closely-watched case since the acquittal of George Zimmerman over the fatal shooting of unarmed black teen Trayvon Martin in 2013, became a flashpoint on the most divisive issues in the US: the right to bear arms, police brutality, racial injustice and the rise of armed militias.

The verdict “will only invite greater political violence at the hands of individuals who believe their guns transform them into untouchable super citizens,” said Igor Volsky, executive director of Guns Down America, a movement calling for fewer firearms in the United States.

“Since we live in a country where a white person like Rittenhouse is able to cross state lines with an assault weapon during a racial justice protest, take the lives of two, gravely injure a third, and successfully paint himself as the victim, we must recommit ourselves to redefining public safety,” Volsky said.

'System has failed us again'

Derrick Johnson, president and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) took to Twitter to denounce the verdict, saying the justice system failed the African American community once again.

During the trial that captivated the nation since early November, Rittenhouse and his defense team argued that he acted in self-defense and that he only used his military-style firearm to protect himself from protesters who were attacking him. Prosecutors had accused the teenager of provoking the whole episode by brandishing his weapon and prompting some members of the crowd to try to contain him.

Rittenhouse provoked 'entire incident' of Kenosha fatal shootings: Prosecutor

Kyle Rittenhouse has emerged as a symbol of an out-of-control American gun culture by many on the left.

“You know damn well that if Kyle Rittenhouse were Black he would have been found guilty in a heartbeat – or shot dead by cops on the scene,” former Democratic presidential candidate Julian Castro wrote on Twitter.

'Stunning example of white privilege'

Democratic congressman Andy Levin also wrote that Rittenhouse’s acquittal was “a stunning example of white privilege.”

Cori Bush, a Democratic congresswoman and Black Lives Matter activist, said she was “hurt”, “angry” and “heartbroken” by the verdict. “It’s white supremacy in action,” she wrote on Twitter.

'It’s the whole system'

Rashad Robinson, president of Color of Change, a national civil rights nonprofit, said the Rittenhouse case and his not-guilty verdict represented a symbol of unequal justice in America.

"Rittenhouse is one person, but his actions are intrinsically tied to a web of white supremacist rhetoric and the nation’s longstanding history of anti-Black violence," he said. "That’s why a single verdict does not make or break our movement: because it’s not just Rittenhouse who’s standing trial; it’s the whole system."

The Black Lives Matter, a grassroots movement protesting against police brutality and all racially motivated violence against black people, said that Rittenhouse’s case was not an anomaly and that the system was always meant to “protect and uphold white supremacy.”

The family of Anthony Huber, one of the protesters fatally shot by Rittenhouse, issued a statement to the US media, saying the jury’s decision left them heartbroken and warning that the verdict sets a chilling precedent.  

“It sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence, and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people in the street,” the family said. “We hope that decent people will join us in forcefully rejecting that message and demanding more of our laws, our officials, and our justice system.”

In New York, hundreds of activists poured to the streets to voice outrage over the acquittal, at some points shutting down the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges as they marched across the borough. The protesters held banners and chanted slogans against law enforcement. “Every city, every town, burn the precinct to the ground,” they shouted in unison.

Meanwhile, President Joe Biden appealed for calm on Friday, saying he stood by the not-guilty verdict and that the jury system of trial in the United States must be respected. "Look, I stand by what the jury has concluded," he said. "The jury system works, and we have to abide by it."

On the other side, gun-rights activists and some conservatives in Congress hailed Rittenhouse’s acquittal as a milestone victory for America.

Former President Donald Trump congratulated Rittenhouse. "It’s called being found NOT GUILTY - and by the way, if that’s not self-defense, nothing is!" he said in an emailed statement to his supporters.

Trump congratulates Kyle Rittenhouse on acquittal in murder trial

Former US President Donald Trump congratulated Kyle Rittenhouse, a white supremacist, after a jury cleared him of all charges at the conclusion of his homicide trial in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Rudy Giuliani, a Trump ally and the former mayor of New York City, applauded the jurors for overcoming what he called “the intimidation of the mob outside the courthouse” and censured the “mainstream media” for its coverage of the case.

A number of staunch conservatives on Capitol Hill also celebrated the verdict.

'A win for the Second Amendment'

"[The] verdict is a win for self-defense, a win for the Second Amendment, a win for blind justice and a win for common sense," Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, a Republican from Colorado, said in a text to USA Today.

The National Rifle Association (NRA), a powerful gun lobby group, tweeted the text of the Second Amendment of the US Constitution, which enshrines “the right … to keep and bear arms.”

Congresswoman Lauren Boebert also cited the Second Amendment in praising Rittenhouse’s acquittal. “Today is a great day for the Second Amendment and the right to self-defense,” she wrote on Twitter.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk