Perspectives: Rittenhouse Trial Results
Summary from the AllSides News Team
The Kyle Rittenhouse trial flooded the homepages of national media outlets and subsequently caused a massive partisan divide across the political spectrum.
After being acquitted on all five charges pressed against him Friday afternoon, Rittenhouse said “the jury reached the right verdict” and emphasized that “self-defense is not illegal." The majority of right-rated voices seemed to agree with the verdict, celebrating the notion that "Americans can still agree on basic facts." Some right-rated voices believe Rittenhouse "deserves more than acquittal" and criticized "the inability of the whole society to form men as capable as they are willing to step into the breach." Other right-rated voices called the Rittenhouse trial "a case study in the media’s lies about racism," emphasizing how "the trial has absolutely nothing to do with racism or that great media fantasy of white supremacy."
While some left-rated voices acknowledged that the Rittenhouse trial mostly followed the law, many seem to believe that it's now "time to question the law" and "direct our energy toward changing the open carry laws in Wisconsin." Some left-rated voices voiced concern that "self-appointed, heavily armed vigilantes will take this verdict as a green light to act out their bloody fantasies." Other left-rated voices said the Rittenhouse verdict "easily reads like a referendum on the nation’s ongoing clashes over the state of racism in American life."
Featured Coverage of this Story
From the Right
In the Rittenhouse Case, the Justice System Worked
Mere minutes elapsed between the end of the Rittenhouse trial and the arrival of the unsolicited hot takes. Responding to the decision, the attorney general of New York, Letitia James, explained that “as a lawyer, I respect jury verdicts,” but confirmed nevertheless that the existence of a jury verdict that she dislikes had convinced her that “our system needs to be uprooted.” On Twitter, Colin Kaepernick echoed this sentiment, proposing that the decision “further validates the need to abolish our current system.” From New York City, Mayor Bill DeBlasio called...
From the Left
Kyle Rittenhouse Was a Minor. Prosecuting Him as One May Have Been Better.
On November 10, three days into his trial, Kyle Rittenhouse took the witness stand in his own defense on murder charges stemming from his killing two men and wounding another with an assault weapon during the civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the wake of the 2020 police shooting of Jacob Blake. During his testimony, Rittenhouse was overcome with emotion. Wracked with sobs, he was unable to continue speaking. Whether you believe they were crocodile tears or a legitimate expression of remorse and horror, Rittenhouse’s breakdown marked a turning point in his...
From the Center
The two trials of Kyle Rittenhouse
Kyle Rittenhouse was put on trial for two very different offenses. The prosecution accused him of being in the wrong place for the wrong reasons and of carrying a gun to a volatile situation. Rittenhouse’s lawyers defended him against a very different charge — namely, that he did not act in self-defense during the moments when he was confronted with a skateboard and a loaded gun.
Anyone who watched biased commentators on CNN or MSNBC would have focused on the prosecution’s charges. Anyone who watched the actual trial live would have understood that...
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