(Washington) In a tense situation, the defense and prosecution ended their presentations on Monday in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, a young white American who killed two people on the sidelines of racist protests in 2020.
The arbitral tribunal, which is hearing whether the young man was convicted of murder or acting in self-defense, will begin debates on Tuesday morning.
In anticipation of a verdict that could create further unrest in the town of Kenosha in the Great Lakes region, the governor of Wisconsin asked 500 National Guard troops to stand.
During their last pass, the prosecution and the defense charged each other with bad faith in this case, a sign of America’s fractures in arms and the anti-racist movement Black Lives Matter (number of black lives).
Photo by Sean Krajasic, Reuters
Kyle Rittenhouse during trial in Kenosha County Court this morning
The play is actually part of a massive mobilization against racism and police violence in the summer of 2020. On August 23, Kenosha was burned to death after Jacob Blake, a young African American, was severely wounded by a white police officer.
On the third night of the riot, then-17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse took to the streets of the city with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and joined armed men who had come to “protect” businesses. In the chaotic situation, he opened fire, killing two and injuring one.
“Hunting desk”
Attorney Thomas Pinker pleaded on Monday that the accused was “a tourist of chaos” and that he “sought excitement” and “spontaneously and knowingly pushed himself into a dangerous situation.”
“Remember that it was the accused who caused the incident,” he told the judges, pointing a gun at the crowd. “You can not call for a defense against the danger you create,” Thomas Finger reiterated.
Photo by Sean Krajasic, Associated Press
In a theatrical gesture, District Attorney Thomas Finger showed the effect of holding Kyle Rittenhouse’s semi-automatic AR-15 rifle and firing at the audience.
To support his views, the lawyer, in a theatrical gesture, dragged the assembly into play with the murder weapon.
“Everyone he shot at attacked him,” said the young man’s lawyer.e Mark Richards condemned the “political” cases.
He accused Thomas Finger of “having a personal search to fit my client on the hunting board”. His services needed a manager for “terrorism in Kenosha”, but they focused on the wrong person.
Those responsible for the tragedy said “protesters have turned into rioters”e Richards echoes a vision widely held by some supporters of former President Donald Trump, for whom the 2020 anti-racist protests are the work of “anarchists” and far-left insurgents.
Conversely, on the left, Kyle Rittenhouse represents the overriding and defensive right of gun culture.
At the end of the day, Judge Bruce Schrder called on judges not to base their “political beliefs”. “You should not pay attention to the views of anyone, not even the US President or his predecessor,” he added.
