As the country held its collective breath Friday afternoon, 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse once again became a free man.
"We the jury find Kyle H. Rittenhouse not guilty," the jury concluded on all five charges against him.
Cheers erupted outside of the courtroom, a sentiment shared by millions watching across the country.
After three days of deliberations, the jury came to a just conclusion based on evidence, not intimidation. Despite raucous and violent protestors clamoring on the courthouse steps during deliberations, the jury did not waver from their duties to remain focused on the task at hand. Given jurors were not sequestered, there is no doubt they knew the stakes were high and that their own safety could be at risk. They proceeded undeterred, pushing away any outside influence.
As the country and Rittenhouse waited for his fate, the usual suspects threatened to burn Kenosha again. Last summer, in the wake of a false narrative about the police shooting of Jacob Blake, the small town was engulfed in uncontrolled rioting.
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"In Kenosha, we are not accustomed to riots," Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said in the aftermath.
Despite threats that it would happen again, the jury remained loyal to the rule of law and rejected mob justice.
The verdict means freedom for Rittenhouse, who should have never been charged with a single crime, not to mention first-degree murder, and a bolstering of the right to self-defense in America.
This entire saga started with a lie from the left, their allies in the media and the Democratic Party.
On August 23, 2020, Jacob Blake was shot by police. Immediately, the media framed the situation as "another unarmed black man unjustly targeted." The truth, which was easy to find for anyone interested in looking, was that Blake was shot after repeatedly disobeying police commands with a knife in his hand. He had a warrant out for his arrest, and police were called to the scene by a woman he had previously sexually assaulted. She had a restraining order against Blake when he showed up at her door.
"Blake, 29, was forbidden from going to the Kenosha home of his alleged victim from the May 3 incident, and police were dispatched Sunday following a 911 call saying he was there," the New York Post reported. "The responding officers were aware he had an open warrant for felony sexual assault, according to dispatch records and the Kenosha Professional Police Association, which released a statement on the incident on Friday."
Eventually, Blake blew up the "unarmed" narrative himself.
"I realized I had dropped my knife, had a little pocket knife. So I picked it up after I got off of him because they tased me," Blake said during an interview with Good Morning America. "I shouldn't have picked it up."
Regardless, the damage had been done. This lie led to unconscionable and irreversible damage to Kenosha, a small Wisconsin town unfamiliar with the ruthless mob. The city burned because corrupt media and leftist activists lied about Blake being "unarmed." The same people who proliferated that lie proceeded to smear Rittenhouse — a 17-year-old who went around putting out fires the left was starting and ended up fighting for his life.
When the police are nowhere to be found, and the criminals roam freely to attack the innocent, those who respond to calls for protection must be defended. While the prosecution of Rittenhouse was wholly unjust, the verdict proved justice has ultimately prevailed.
