Kyle Rittenhouse is on trial in Wisconsin, but so is vigilantism

A jury in Kenosha, Wisconsin, has begun hearing evidence that will help them decide whether Kyle Rittenhouse is guilty of reckless or intentional homicide in the shooting of three people during August 2020 racial injustice protests, or if he acted in self-defense.

What’s really on trial, though, is citizen vigilantism. At a moment when Americans’ willingness to use political violence has already skyrocketed, this trial’s outcome risks legitimizing individual violent action and galvanizing civilians who are unhappy with the direction of the country to take matters into their own hands. This is especially true for the political right, who have embraced Rittenhouse as a patriotic martyr.

During the past five years we have seen a significant rise in political violence in the U.S., driven in large part by support for violence and violent action itself from the right. Nearly 4 in 10 Republicans — compared to an already troubling 3 in 10 Americans overall — say the use of political force is justified if elected leaders won’t protect America. These findings are consistent with other data showing that a majority of Republicans now believe that force may be necessary to save “the traditional American way of life.”