In August 2020 I wrote about the riots in several U.S. cities.
'Mostly Peaceful' Rioting And Looting Is Helping Trump's Campaign
The piece attracted 610 comments which made it the longest Moon of Alabama thread ever.
The immediate starting point of my thoughts had been the riots and shooting in Kenosha:
Last Sunday police in Kenosha, Wisconsin proved to be too incompetent to arrest a man they had already had under control. They shot him 7 times into the back when he was trying to get into his car. Nights of rioting followed. Buildings were burned down and businesses were looted.
Yesterday a white teen with a semi-automatic weapon had the stupid idea to join others in 'protecting the businesses' in Kenosha from further looting. He ended up killing two people and wounding more after he was attacked by some of the rioters. The teen was arrested and he is facing charges but I doubt that he is guilty of more than sheer stupidity and manslaughter in self defense.
Many of the regular commentators disagreed with my conclusion.
The white teen, Kyle Rittenhouse, is now standing trial. Of note is that the casualties in this case were all white and had criminal records, something that the media at the time of the incident intentionally neglected to say.
Yesterday Rittenhouse testified and was cross examined by the prosecutor Thomas Binger. I watched a stream of the trial and was not impressed:
Moon of Alabama @MoonofA – 20:12 UTC · Nov 10, 2021
Watching the Rittenhouse trial.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=si9YXq0A1Vk
That prosecutor is ridiculous.
The judge seemed to have the same impression:
The Kenosha County, Wis., judge presiding over Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial clashed with the lead prosecutor several times during the teenager’s cross-examination on Wednesday, while defense attorneys requested a mistrial alleging prosecutorial misconduct.
The defense objected to Binger’s questions about Rittenhouse’s decision to remain silent about the shootings until taking the witness stand Wednesday, arguing that this line of inquiry infringed on Rittenhouse’s Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself.
While Binger said he was making the case that Rittenhouse had tailored his testimony based on what other witnesses had said before him, Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder appeared to agree with the defense, ordering the jury out of the room before rebuking the prosecutor.
“The problem is this is a grave constitutional violation for you to talk about the defendant’s silence,” Schroeder yelled. “You're right on the borderline, and you may be over it. But it better stop.”
Later on in the cross-examination, Schroeder admonished Binger for attempting to question Rittenhouse about evidence that the judge had previously deemed inadmissible.
It was not only that misbehavior by the extremely arrogant prosecutor which caused me to call him ridiculous. It was the way in which he questioned minor decisions Rittenhouse had taken during the incident implying that they showed this or that malicious intention even when that was clearly not the case. A prosecutor should not behave like a child playing gotcha.
I may well be, as the defense implied, that Binger tried to provoke a mistrial. His chances to win the case are by now practically zero.
The videos prove that Rittenhouse was under attack when he fired his gun. The man who had been wounded in the incident, and who was the prosecution's main witness, admitted under cross examination that he had pointed his handgun at Rittenhouse before Rittenhouse aimed and fired at him.
A clear act of self defense:
In an account largely corroborated by video and the prosecution’s own witnesses, Rittenhouse said that the first man cornered him and put his hand on the barrel of Rittenhouse's rifle, the second man hit him with a skateboard, and the third man came at him with a gun of his own.
…
Rittenhouse said he “didn't want to have to shoot” Joseph Rosenbaum, the first man to fall that night, but he said Rosenbaum was chasing him and had threatened to kill him earlier.“If I would have let Mr. Rosenbaum take my firearm from me, he would have used it and killed me with it," he said, "and probably killed more people.”
But Rittenhouse also acknowledged that the strap holding his gun was in place and that he had both hands on the weapon. And Binger suggested that Rosenbaum might have been trying to bat the rifle away.
…
Rittenhouse testified that he then shot and killed protester Anthony Huber after Huber struck him in the neck with his skateboard and grabbed his gun. Then he wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, saying the protester had lunged at him “with his pistol pointed directly at my head.”
The trial thus confirmed my August 2020 analysis:
The teen was arrested and he is facing charges but I doubt that he is guilty of more than sheer stupidity and manslaughter in self defense.
Some prominent voices are agreeing with me:
Tulsi Gabbard @TulsiGabbard – 0:01 UTC · Nov 11, 2021
The prosecutor in the Rittenhouse trial clearly didn’t do due diligence before making the decision to prosecute. This tragedy never would have happened if the government carried out its responsibilities to protect the safety, lives and property of innocent people.
Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald – 19:29 UTC · Nov 10, 2021
I never commented on the Rittenhouse case until I started watching large chunks of the trial, and all I can say is that anyone who has done the same and denies that there's a huge gap between the media narrative about this and what actually happened is not telling the truth.
Greenwald also points to this video report by rising which includes video clips from the trial, including the prosecutor witness admitting that he pointed his gun first.
Rittenhouse is not on trial for bad judgment or offensive behavior. He is on trial under murder charges and will likely be acquitted of them. That will of course cause outrage by the usual suspects.
Michael Tracey @mtracey – 11:38 UTC · Nov 11, 2021
Even if the prosecution fails to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he committed the crimes alleged? Telling statement from the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus
Hakeem Jeffries @hakeemjeffries – 21:30 UTC · Nov 10, 2021
Lock up Kyle Rittenhouse and throw away the key.
Jeffries' hypocrisy stinks to high heaven. See this June 2020 tweet by him.
Hakeem Jeffries @hakeemjeffries – 16:17 UTC · Jun 29, 2020
End. Mass. Incarceration.
Defund The Prison Industrial Complex.
The riots in Kenosha were part of the Democrats strategy of tension campaign aimed at increasing the turnout of 'progressive' democrat voters. 'Black life matters', 'abolish the police' and the riots and looting were all part of it. It was what I had earlier sarcastically called the Civil War of 2020.
Begun The Civil Wars Of 2020 Have
The campaign had the obvious but unintended effect of also increasing the turnout of republican voters for Donald Trump's law and order policies. The campaign was not successful. In the end Joe Biden barely won by some 60,000 votes in three swing states.
With Russiagate exposed as fraud, Rittenhouse getting acquitted and with many of the Democrats campaign promises unfulfilled a majority of midterm voters may well conclude that the Democrats are crooks who do not deserve their vote.