Why We Don’t Have Police Trials For Shootings

The Kyle Rittenhouse Case Tells Us Why

Why don’t we have trials of police officers involved in shootings a lot?

I suspect a lot of them would proceed like the Kyle Rittenhouse trial did for the last two weeks. What am I saying?

First, America is pro-police and pro guns. Lets get that out the way.

In addition, if Kyle Rittenhouse gets convicted of anything, holla at me. He is perceived as “police” in this case and he was carrying a “gun” so he is good, in America, mostly.

Also, judging by the witnesses who gave statements and testified, the progression of the trial, and the demenaor and rulings of the judge in the case, what he did was 100 percent cool. The facts and the law are in his favor despite perceptions to the contrary based mostly on emotional outrage.

He shot and killed a protester, shot a medic, and killed a man suffering from a mental illness. He was defending himself they mostly assert. On social media, the three victims routinely gets trashed. They are collateral damage.

The first guy, Joseph Rosenbaum, was aggressive and he caused himself to be shot in the head close range with an AR-15 after chasing Rittenhouse is the dominant view. (Why was a man suffering from a mental illness released onto the streets of a city in civic chaos, by the way? Somehow that has never been discussed).

The second guy shot, Anthony Huber, who reacted to the shooting of the first guy, got shot for trying to disarm Rittenhouse with a skateboard.

The third victim, who got his bicep blown off, Gaige Grossreutz, was an actual medic (Rittenhouse told people he was EMT as well, which is a lie). Grossreutz was carrying a gun, also chased Rittenhouse down the street to disarm him (he thought Rittenhouse was an active shooter).

Grossreutz pulled out his gun and admitted at trial he pointed the gun at Rittehouse and was then shot. Many comments I read online admitted that once he admitted this, the trial was effectively over. That shooting was justified is the assertion.

I can’t even argue with that. Truthfully, why did they hold this trial if everyone was going to do like Black people did during the OJ trial and rally around an undeserving assailant. Even the judge it seems has rallied around the cause.

But this is America. Guns rule the streets. Protect yo neck.

There is an FBI video where Rittenhouse is following Rosenbaum before Rittenhouse is chased by Rosenbaum. If Rosenbaum felt threatened my Rittenhouse and reacted as he did, he is justified? What if he had been armed, turned and shot Rittenhouse? Justified?

When Rosenbaum is chasing Rittenhouse, one witness testified that Rosenbaum lunged at Rittenhouse as if to disarm him. This is the justification for shooting him in the eyes of many.

Yet, Rittenhouse’s AR-15 is not only held by Rittenhouse, he has it strapped to his body (he bought the strap the day of the shootings). There is little, if any chance for Rosenbaum to take the gun away. In other words, deadly force is way over the top. Rosenbaum is shot in the head.

Anthony Huber is shot in the chest after trying to hit Rittenhouse with his skateboard.

The prosecutor in the case made a fatal mistake of bringing up a video of Rittenhouse that was excluded by the judge prior to trial. The video suggests Rittenhouse is violent. To mention the video is self-incriminating and the prosecutor should have not mentioned it. He likely lost a lot of credibility with the jury.

The prosecutor had to call a lot of witnesses who were pro-Rittenhouse. They were eyewitnesses. It gave them a chance to speak for Kyle. (We always say, who speaks for the victims. In this case, people spoke for the accused mostly, not the victims).

Witnesses during the trial were elusive and inconsistent in their statements. Most of the witnesses used their time on the stand to spin the events of August 25, 2020 in Rittenhouse’s favor.

At least one witness, who was on duty that night, blames the killings on the police, mostly. He contends that the police tried to push the protesters down the street where the militia members were guarding property.

The trial isn’t over but to me, it feels like if Rittenhouse was a real police officer of any sort, he would not have been charged. He would not have done what he did either. No one would have chased him anywhere. He was young, reckless, inexperienced, and armed with a deadly weapon.

Some have said he was hoping to get into something in Kenosha. He didn’t actually live there. He got what he wanted I guess. Sort of like George Zimmerman in Florida when he set out to confront Trayvon Martin and then killed him.

But, to go back to the start, if he is convicted of anything, holla at me. I just don’t see it happening, and in the end, that might be correct.

At least we had a trial.

@Momentum Momentum Blog Team Medium The Good The Good Men Project Smart Gun Laws