Violence broke out late Tuesday night during a spat of BLM infighting in Kenosha, Wis., leaving one critically wounded and two dead after a small band of armed men carrying rifles and wearing symbols affiliated with the Libertarian Party found themselves the target of a violent mob.
The multiracial libertarian group had been initially supportive of
the BLM rioters, immersing
themselves in the crowd and clenching their fists while repeating
various phrases associated with the movement. "As long as you
f--- with the government and not with each other, we are with
you. No lives can matter until black lives matter!" one of the
men said, the Libertarian Party's porcupine symbol emblazoned on his
shirt. The group then proceeded to march down the road, stopping
at a boarded up gas station and milling about as protestors marched
by.
The crowds swelled as the night went on, becoming more confident
and aggressive. A band of rioters went into the
gas station parking lot to harass the armed libertarians, enraged that
they would not be able to loot
and vandalize as they pleased. One white rioter walked
right up to the armed men and proceeded to taunt them, calling them the
n-word. "Shoot me n----! Shoot me
n----! Bust on me n---- fo' real!"
The situation escalated, and that is exactly what happened.
The increasingly aggravated crowd advanced on the libertarians as
they ceded ground to appease the crowd. The libertarians eventually
fled the location and became separated as the rioters ran after
them. Footage during this time frame is scarce, but one recording shows the fate of the
man who had taunted the armed group earlier. He is seen with his
shirt tied around his face while sprinting across a different parking lot in
pursuit of one of the armed men later identified as 17-year-old Kyle
Rittenhouse. A gunshot is heard as Rittenhouse is chased through the lot, his
arms down at his sides, gun pointing at the ground. The 17-year-old
then slows to a stop, possibly alarmed by the gunfire. He turns around
just in time to see his assailant whose arms are raised
mid-tackle. The 17-year-old raises his gun and fires four shots,
dropping his assailant with a shot to the head. Rittenhouse circles
a car before coming back to the downed assailant while three additional shots
are heard (unconfirmed origin, possibly warning shots from
Rittenhouse). Rittenhouse checks on his assailant's condition and
pulls out his phone, calling the authorities. A small crowd begins
to converge on his location, prompting the 17-year-old to flee again in
fear. Members of the crowd attempt to give medical treatment to the
still conscious assailant, accusing each other of the shooting.
Additional footage shows Rittenhouse being chased
down the street toward the police blockade, clutching his rifle as
dozens of rioters run after him in hot pursuit. The 17-year-old
receives various blows to the head from rioters before being knocked to the
ground. Rioters
immediately swarm, shouting "Get his
ass!" Rittenhouse, sprawled on the ground, manages to seize his
rifle, and sit up just in time to fire twice at a man in a mid-air attempt to
kick his head, missing both shots. The assailant runs off uninjured
as a second assailant slams a skateboard into Rittenhouse's head and attempts
to steal the rifle. A single shot is fired into the second
assailant's midsection as he raises the skateboard a second time, forcing the
assailant to release the rifle and drop the skateboard before taking a few
steps and collapsing to the ground. A third assailant, armed with a
handgun, feigns surrender by throwing his hands up. Upon seeing his
opportunity to steal the rifle, the third assailant lunges forward only to be
shot in the arm, subsequently running to the side of the street and demanding
medical attention (it was probably quite the wait, given his fellow rioters'
insistence on blocking
roads with dumpsters earlier that night). The mob scatters
during the third assailant's failure, and distant shots are heard, presumably
off camera. Rittenhouse stands up clutching his rifle and slowly
begins walking down the street toward a blockade of emergency vehicles several
blocks away. Nine close shots are heard in bursts of three (possibly
warning shots or pepper balls fired off camera), prompting Rittenhouse to
briefly turn around before resuming his march. He picks up the pace
as police vehicles arrive ahead of him and members of the scattered mob cry for
someone to "Shoot
him!" The 17-year-old raises his arms, surrendering to the
police vehicles as the anti-police BLM rioters yell at the police to arrest
him.
Hours later, video
surfaced of Rittenhouse being interviewed by a citizen-journalist
prior to the escalation. Rittenhouse complains of having been pepper-sprayed
by a BLM crowd member earlier that night before cutting the interview short to
offer his services as an Emergency Medical Technician to BLM crowd members
limping down the sidewalk.
There seems to have been miscommunication among law enforcement
officials, as the Kenosha County sheriff, David Beth, told
local media that no one had been apprehended and that the search was
ongoing, despite video clearly
showing Rittenhouse surrendering himself to police. He must have
been released without charges initially, as Rittenhouse was later arrested at
his home nearby in Illinois, a criminal
complaint falsely claiming that he had attempted to flee to escape
charges.
Wisconsin does not have a stand-your-ground law, but the
circumstances of the shooting show clear self-defense while retreating from a
real threat. Members of the mob repeatedly threatened Rittenhouse,
incited other members to attack him, even to shoot him. Rittenhouse
had been pepper-sprayed, repeatedly bludgeoned on the head, and pursued over
long distances before making it to law enforcement
officers. Throughout the ordeal, he fired only at active threats
within striking range, even managing to shoot his final assailant in the arm
that was holding a handgun after the assailant feigned surrender.
Members of the media are currently calling him a vigilante to
muddy the waters. Rittenhouse was not attempting to enforce any
laws, nor did he shoot anyone to defend property. The only
vigilantes shown in the videos are the ones who attack the 17-year-old as he
attempts to turn himself in to the authorities. The authorities,
turning a blind eye to adult would-be murderers, are more inclined to charge a
minor for clear-cut self-defense than to hold the aggressors
responsible. If Rittenhouse's first-degree homicide charges stick,
it will be an indictment of the American judicial system and the voters and a
mortal blow to the Second Amendment.
Chanting BLM's slogans, repeating their hand gestures, and
offering them medical assistance did not save Rittenhouse from their violence
or from being called a white
supremacist online. Genuflecting to the will of a
collectivist mob failed to save the young libertarian; guns did not fail, and
every American should know it.
https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/08/what_really_happened_with_those_kenosha_shootings.html