![]() The result of this failure was bloodshed, the loss of lives, and enduring trauma. ![]() When the community rose up to exercise their First Amendment right to protest, police enabled white supremacist militia members, which helped to spur rank vigilantism. “In Kenosha, we saw the police shoot a Black man in the back - in front of his children. “This complicity, along with the reason for the protests that Rittenhouse took it upon himself to confront - the police shooting of a Black man outside of a family function - highlights that the violence in Kenosha is not an anomaly, but rather endemic to a system built upon white supremacy. His acquittal comes after an ACLU investigation exposing how Kenosha law enforcement used violence against protesters and drove them toward white militia groups, in ways that escalated tensions and almost certainly led to these shootings. “Kyle Rittenhouse was a juvenile who traveled across state lines on a vigilante mission, was allowed by police to roam the streets of Kenosha with an assault rifle and ended up shooting three people and killing two. The system is broken, and it desperately needs to be fixed.”īrandon Buskey, director of the ACLU’s Criminal Law Reform Project, stated: “Rittenhouse’s trial highlights an urgent need for reform for both police and the criminal legal system. We need a system of public safety that protects the lives of the entire community. At the same time, white militia members were welcomed with open arms. They also created an environment where protesters, many of whom were people of color, were not protected and treated as the enemy. Months of research and open records requests have uncovered many incidents in which police enabled white militia members to become armed vigilantes in the street due to their failure to control the crowd. “The situation also represents an outrageous failure to protect protesters by the Kenosha Police Department and the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office. They underscore that the police do not protect communities of color in the same way they do white people. The events in Kenosha stem from the deep roots of white supremacy in our society’s institutions. But Kyle Rittenhouse isn’t the only one responsible for the deaths that night. “Despite Kyle Rittenhouse’s conscious decision to take the lives of two people protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake by police, he was not held responsible for his actions, something that is not surprising. Shaadie Ali, interim executive director of the ACLU of Wisconsin, stated: The American Civil Liberties Union released the following statement after a jury decided that Kyle Rittenhouse was not guilty of the fatal shooting of two protestors and injuring of another in last year’s demonstrations following the shooting of Jacob Blake by a Kenosha Police Department officer last year: There seems to be an inherent conflict of interest with prosecutors who rely daily on the police to assist in prosecuting cases, and then are expected to vigorously prosecute accused officers this is not realistic.KENOSHA, Wis. ![]() Fourth, and most importantly for the future of justice and accountability, we must acknowledge the need for independent prosecutors who focus only on prosecuting cases like this. Ninety percent of the time, a jury will acquit under those circumstances. Third, Hankinson is a seasoned detective who is well experienced at testifying and had a year to prepare for trial and close every angle. Second, the failure to indict any officer for killing Breonna Taylor made the prosecution of the officer who shot into and through a wall a lot more challenging. Even today, we have no idea what is happening with the federal investigation into this matter. ![]() First, the other officers involved refused to testify on the grounds that their testimony might incriminate them. There were a number of obstacles–avoidable obstacles, but obstacles, nonetheless–to achieving a guilty verdict. We are sincerely disappointed in this outcome, but not terribly surprised.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |