After Kyle Rittenhouse on Friday was found not guilty on all counts in a murder trial, progressive Squad Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), Cori Bush (D-MO) and Rashida Tlaib claimed that both the defendant and the criminal justice system were racist.
The jury acquitted Rittenhouse of first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree recklessly endangering safety, first-degree intentional homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide after he had been on trial for shooting and killing two men and injuring a third during an August 2020 Black Lives Matter riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
What we are witnessing is a system functioning as designed and protecting those it was designed for.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 19, 2021
My heart still breaks for the communities and families whose grief now compounds, and the countless others who will be denied and deprived in similar scenes across the country.
Racism & white supremacy remain the bedrock of our legal system.
— Ayanna Pressley (@AyannaPressley) November 19, 2021
My heart breaks for the family & loved ones of those whose lives were stolen, and the trauma our communities face today and every day.
The struggle for accountability, for justice, for healing goes on.
The judge. The jury. The defendant.
— Cori Bush (@CoriBush) November 19, 2021
It’s white supremacy in action.
This system isn’t built to hold white supremacists accountable. It’s why Black and brown folks are brutalized and put in cages while white supremacist murderers walk free.
I’m hurt. I’m angry. I’m heartbroken.
This painful verdict sends a horrifying message that bringing violence to a protest for racial justice is acceptable. It's incitement, not justice.
— Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (@RepRashida) November 19, 2021
The congresswomens' claims of both a racist defendant and judicial system come despite the fact that all three individuals Rittenhouse shot were white.
Throughout the trial, Rittenhouse's legal team argued for self-defense. The man who was shot and injured by Rittenhouse but survived even admitted under oath to pulling a gun on the defendant before he was shot.