Opinion | Kenosha Tells Us More About Where the Right Is Headed Than the R.N.C. Did

Authored by nytimes.com and submitted by NewserUser
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As Rittenhouse is running, he trips and falls to the ground. He fires again — four more shots — as several people run toward him. One of the people in that group is hit in the chest and falls to the ground. Another, who is carrying a handgun, is struck in the arm. Rittenhouse then gets up and walks toward several police vehicles with his hands raised. Although bystanders identify him as the shooter, police pass him by. Rittenhouse is arrested the next day, in Illinois. Authorities charged him with first-degree murder.

This is a complicated situation, but a few things are clear. Wisconsin isn’t a “Stand Your Ground” state, and Rittenhouse was in illegal possession of a weapon — under Wisconsin law, it is a Class A misdemeanor for a minor to carry a deadly weapon in the open. There is also no legal right in the state to use deadly force for the protection of property you do not own. And in any case the “Castle Doctrine” only applies to the use of deadly force in one’s home, vehicle or business.

To the conservative media, however, what happened in Kenosha was eminently justifiable and even cause for celebration. “Are we really surprised that looting and arson accelerated to murder?” Tucker Carlson said on the Wednesday broadcast of his Fox News show. “How shocked are we that 17-year-olds with rifles decided they had to maintain order when no one else would?” Carlson, who has an average nightly audience of more than 4 million viewers, blamed local political leaders for the killings. “Kenosha has devolved into anarchy because the authorities in charge of the city abandoned it. People in charge in Wisconsin from the governor on down refused to enforce the law,” he said. “They stood back and watched Kenosha burn.”

Ann Coulter, a conservative author and provocateur, said that she wanted Rittenhouse “as my president.” Graham Allen, a contributor to Charlie Kirk’s Turning Point USA, called the Kenosha killings a “justified shooting” in a video that has garnered more than 150,000 views. Katie Pavlich, another Fox News host, declared that, “When you have no police around to defend businesses, and people who are being attacked, then there is a void that is filled.” According to The Guardian, “fund-raisers, messages of support and celebratory memes” for Rittenhouse are being “shared widely” on social media platforms. And Paul Gosar, a far-right Republican congressman for Arizona’s 4th District, said it was “100% justified self-defense. Do not try to take a weapon away from a man or bear the consequences.”

What happened in Kenosha was a tragedy. Rittenhouse should not have been there, and we should agree — all of us — that the shooting should not have happened. We should also be troubled by police action, or the lack thereof, against armed militias. Tacit support from Kenosha police (at one point, an officer thanks the group for being there) almost certainly contributed to the permissive environment that led to the shooting. It is reminiscent, in that way, of the events in Charlottesville in 2017, where an official review found that law enforcement failed to “maintain order” and “protect public safety” leading to fights, skirmishes and the vehicular murder of a protester.

bigboi2115 on August 28th, 2020 at 15:23 UTC »

I'm gonna make a comparison.

If you live in a state where it is required to have car insurance. And you are driving that car. And by no fault of your own you get rear ended. When the police arrive at the scene, you are at fault for that accident, because you should NOT have been driving your car without insurance. If you weren't on the road illegally, there wouldn't have been an accident.

So, my point is that a 17 year old, armed himself, Law Broken. Crossed state lines with a rifle, Law Broken.

So in the process of already committing crimes. He committed more crimes.

He wouldn't have had to defend himself if he didn't go through all that trouble in the first place.

Self-defense would be admissible if he were unarmed, then attacked, then he disarmed the attacker and killed them.

Not walking towards them with a gun, then reacting when people took exception to being basically charged at with a gun.

It is BANANAS that we are here. What the fuck? Thats my question.

2_Spicy_2_Impeach on August 28th, 2020 at 13:04 UTC »

They love their child soldiers. Their self defense narrative crumbles but they still support this kid. It’s pathetic but not surprising.

sanitysepilogue on August 28th, 2020 at 13:03 UTC »

The Conservatives are trying to paint one of the victims as a pedophile

Edit: Not in the sex offender registry

Edit 2: Love these dumbasses