The Rittenhouse and McMichael/Bryan trials

[RoseMorninStar]

I haven't been able to bring myself to pay attention to this case except on the periphery because I'm sure I'd find it upsetting. That Rittenhouse was recorded a few weeks prior stating that he wanted to use his AR to shoot at people, I just.. ugh.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

So far as I can determine, that is based on a report from the World Socialist Web Site. Do you have any more reliable support for that statement?

[RoseMorninStar]

I read it here and the video was published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

[River]

I'm not sure this is going to end well for Rittenhouse. He's 17, he's become a household name for crossing state lines with an AR-15 and using that AR-15 to shoot people, and it'll be a long time before he and his family have any privacy again. That's a lot for an adult, never mind a kid. His family has done a crap job of protecting him.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Thanks, Rose.

[RoseMorninStar]

No worries V.

River, it's a tragedy all the way around, imo.

[N.E. Brigand]

Kyle Rittenhouse seems to have upset some of his more extreme admirers by telling Fox News that he supports Black Lives Matter.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

As well as upsetting some BLM supporters who don't want to believe that not everything is as black and white as they want to believe it is.

[elengil]

As well as upsetting some BLM supporters who don't want to believe that not everything is as black and white as they want to believe it is.

That belief is far from being limited to BLM supporters.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Of course. Nor is it true of all BLM supporters, nor even necessarily most of them. I have no idea whether Rittenhouse was sincere in making that statement or not. But I have no idea also what he would have to gain by lying about it.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I remain less concerned about the fact that Rittenhouse was acquitted then I am by the fact that as a white male he was far more likely to be acquitted on a self-defense argument then someone who is not a white male.

Now, if the McMichaels and Bryan are acquitted ...

[RoseMorninStar]

I have not been following the case closely, as I've said before. It's just a little too upsetting/close to home, but I agree. If a 17 year old minority (black, Hispanic, Asian, Arab, Muslim, etc..) male had done the exact same thing I think the outcome and reactions would be different.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Or a woman.

Kenosha protesters, rallying after Rittenhouse verdict, call for focus on case of sex trafficking victim Chrystul Kizer

Just two days after the verdict, many have turned their focus to a case to another Kenosha teen who claims to have killed in self-defense. The protesters called for justice for Chrystul Kizer, a sex trafficking victim who is accused of killing her abuser when she was 17 years old.

[RoseMorninStar]

Or a woman.

Kenosha protesters, rallying after Rittenhouse verdict, call for focus on case of sex trafficking victim Chrystul Kizer

Just two days after the verdict, many have turned their focus to a case to another Kenosha teen who claims to have killed in self-defense. The protesters called for justice for Chrystul Kizer, a sex trafficking victim who is accused of killing her abuser when she was 17 years old.

Exactly.

[Inanna]

I read that article’s headlines only. Still broke my heart.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

From the closing argument by Laura Hogue, the attorney for Gregory McMichael:

""Turning Ahmaud Arbery into a victim after the choices that he made does not reflect the reality of what brought Ahmaud Arbery to Satilla Shores in his khaki shorts with no socks to cover his long, dirty toenails."

The description of the toenails comes from the autopsy report. I have no idea wear the "no socks" come from. I know he was wearing sneakers or running shoes so even if he wasn't wearing socks (which seems unlikely) his toenails would not have been exposed.

People watching audibly gasped when she made that comment, and Ahmaud's mother got up and left the courtroom.

It is bad enough that an attorney would make such an awful, obvious invocation of racist tropes. What is worse is that she obviously did so because she believed that it would be effective with the jury.

The prosecution made it rebuttal today and the judge has instructed the jury, which has begun deliberations.

[RoseMorninStar]

Some people are just deplorable.

[N.E. Brigand]

The description of the toenails comes from the autopsy report. I have no idea wear the "no socks" come from. I know he was wearing sneakers or running shoes so even if he wasn't wearing socks (which seems unlikely) his toenails would not have been exposed.

I'm remembering back twenty-one years to when I met two women who were hiking all 2000+ miles of the Appalachian Trail barefoot.

It turns out there's a webpage about them. Once they reached the end of the trial, they turned around and hiked 2,000 more miles back to the start (in what's called a "yo-yo" hike).

Suffice it to say they got dirt under their toenails!

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Justice in America.

All 3 men guilty of murder in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery

[River]

Excellent.