Morning Joe on Rittenhouse: 'Extraordinarily Difficult for the Prosecution'

NewsBusters ^ | Mark Finkelstein

[governsleastgovernsbest]

Much as the liberal media might celebrate the conviction of Kyle Rittenhouse — someone, as our Curtis Houck has documented, they have tried to brand as a white-supremacist vigilante — the MSM is grudgingly having to admit that conviction could be unlikely.

Friday, back on Morning Joe, Scarborough and former prosecutor Charles Coleman used the same term—"uphill battle"—to portray the prosecution's predicament.

Coleman said that the defense should be "feeling pretty good" going into closing arguments. And Scarborough capped the bad news for those calling for a Rittenhouse conviction by saying that things are "going to be extraordinarily difficult for the prosecution."

Get the rest of the story and view the video here.

[Boogieman]

Let’s call it what it is: an attempted lynching under color of law.

[unixfox]

My, how sad they look at not being able to railroad a 17 year old kid.

Hope he has the last laugh when he sues them all into oblivion.

[NEMDF]

He repeatedly testified that his intent was to stop the threat and he shot until he could be sure he was no longer at risk.

[Yo-Yo]

He can’t even be found guilty of the weapons charge. He is part of the Militia of the United States. Below is from the US code. a and b2 apply to Kyle:

Unfortunately, under Wisconsin law, Kyle is not subject to the charge of a minor in possession of a deadly weapon only if he is a member of the organized National Guard and on active duty. Kyle's status as part of the unorganized militia has no bearing on the statute.

948.60  Possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.

3(b) This section does not apply to a person under 18 years of age who is a member of the armed forces or national guard and who possesses or is armed with a dangerous weapon in the line of duty.

[Yo-Yo]

He repeatedly testified that his intent was to stop the threat and he shot until he could be sure he was no longer at risk.

Yes, Kyle was well prepared and did an excellent job stating that he wasn't trying to kill, he was trying to stop the threat. Exactly what anyone who is involved in a self-defense shooting should say.

[ctdonath2]

I’ve been hoping for a long time that that would be used as a defense often.

“A well-regulated militia” - Congress has defined (with exceptions/inclusions) citizen males age 17-45 as part of the militia, and has regulated that militia as Congress sees fit. “Militia” is divided into “organized” (active professional soldiers, plus national guard) and “unorganized” (males 17-45). These are regulated as Congress sees fit, with “unorganized” compelled to register for Selective Service, and are passively offered affordable arms and training via theCMP.org. As such (given common antagonistic reading) males 17-45 _are_ members of “the militia”, and so unquestionably enjoy “the right to keep and bear arms” without infringement. Of course, Founding Fathers never differentiated “all the terrible implements of the soldier” as different from 2ndA’s “arms” - to the contrary, clearly stated that they are indivisible. Ergo, 922(o) (ban on post-1986 machineguns) - and any other prohibition all the way up to NFA arms - are unconstitutional as applied to males 17-45.

Here’s hoping it gains momentum.

[Graybeard58]

Only the jury decides and I won’t be surprised with either verdict.

.......................................................

What color is the jury? How many men and how many women?

Should not matter but it does, especially in this political trial.

[CaptainK]

From Joe's twitter. He'll be angry if Kyle’s found not guilty.

He's a Midwest version of George Zimmerman, a thug who went out of his way to kill another person. Here, right-wing loons champion the cause of a thug who beats up teenage girls, breaks gun laws, travels across state lines, recklessly wields an AR-15 & shoots people in the back.

[cuban leaf]

Then the Wisconsin law violates the US code. It’s that simple. Unless one wants to make the argument that the writers didn’t intend for “some” militia members to not be armed.

[Michael.SF.]

I’d be stunned if the judge does grant the motion to dismiss.

Not that it would be justified, but the target for the 12 jurors (assuming acquittal) would now be directed solely at hi. It would take a lot of courage to that.

[Yo-Yo]

Then the Wisconsin law violates the US code. It’s that simple. Unless one wants to make the argument that the writers didn’t intend for “some” militia members to not be armed.

To quote a certain resident of the White House, "c'mon, man."

By your argument, the unorganized militia statute nullifies ALL state gun laws for those between 17 and 45.

That assertion has never been successfully used in a court of law, so you may be right, but you'll have a lot of time in jail reminding yourself how right you were.

[KevinB]

My understanding is that there is pending, but not yet ruled upon, what in CA we would call a Motion for Directed Verdict. I’d be stunned if the judge doesn’t grant that.

I'd be stunned if the judge does grant it. There is no way the judge is going to substitute his judgment for that of the jury in a high profile case such as this.

[OVERTIME]

Dear Cubanleaf, YoYo, et. al.

With the greatest respect, what you wrote about the relevant firearm laws was silly.

The relevant Wisconsin statute is section 948.60

948.60 Possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.
Article 2
(a) Any person under 18 years of age who possesses or goes armed with a dangerous weapon is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.ourt of criminal jurisdiction under s. 938.183.

Article 3
(a) This section does not apply to a person under 18 years of age who (is engaging in supervised target practice)

(b) or a person under 18 years of age who is a member of the armed forces or national guard blah blah blah

(c) THIS IS THE RELEVANT PORTION
This section applies only to a person under 18 years of age who possesses or is armed with a rifle or a shotgun if the person is in violation of s. 941.28 or is not in compliance with ss. 29.304 and 29.593.

(SECTION 941.28 applies to short barrel rifles (defined as less than 16 inches.)
I believe that Rittenhouse’s gun was a normal AR-15 with a 16 inch barrel. He was therefore not in violation of 941.28

(SECTIONs 29.304 and 29.593 are about training, mentoring, certifications etc required for hunting.)
Rittenhouse was not engaged in hunting. He was therefore not in violation of 29.304 and 29.593)

[cuban leaf]

This brings up another interesting point. How, exactly do you try him “as an adult” for this?

What you are mentioning in the main context of your post is what I was assuming after we first started discussing it here. My point was just that, “on top of that”, the US code has something to say about it as well.

[Qiviut]

They want an innocent man to be convicted for a crime he didn’t admit in order to assuage their political desires.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

BTW, are you aware of the “Antaramain” connections?

Kenosha mayor has close family ties to lead detective, prosecuting DA in Rittenhouse case
https://thepostmillennial.com/kenosha-mayor-has-close-family-ties-to-lead-detective-prosecuting-da-in-rittenhouse-case?utm_campaign=64483

#1 - Kenosha Mayor John Antaramain has been mayor of the city for six terms, spanning from 1992 to 2008, and then again from 2016 to 2024. According to the Kenosha County Eye, Antaramain is rumored not to be seeking reelection due to backlash from his response to the Kenosha riots of last summer.

“John has a lot at stake in the Rittenhouse trial. He wants Kyle convicted. He wants Kyle to take the blame and distract us from his failures as our leader. Lucky for John, he has a lot of powerful family members in charge here in Kenosha,” they continued.

#2 - The lead detective in the Rittenhouse case reportedly is the mayor’s nephew, Benjamin Antaramian, who allegedly wants to connect Rittenhouse to the “Kenosha Guard” Facebook page despite proof from Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg proving otherwise.

#3 - The Mayor’s cousin is reportedly the Kenosha City Attorney Ed Antaramian.

#4 - And the DA prosecuting Kyle is the mayor’s first cousin

Wait, there’s more!

#5 - Mayor Antaramian’s nephew is Kenosha City Judge Michael Easton. Another nephew of his is State Representative Thaddeus McGuire. Another cousin of his is County Board Supervisor Laura Belsky, the Kenosha County Eye reported.

IT’S A SNAKE PIT.

[all the best]

We have all fallen into the trap. A strictly local issue has been nationalized. We canNOT win. We concede just by getting into this battle. If Kyle is acquitted, we still lose.

[Jacob Kell]

But if he is acquitted, at least we lose less.

[Still Thinking]

Excellent point. How can try someone as an adult for something that’s only illegal if the defendant is a minor?

[Still Thinking]

How does he defend against the possibility that the jury is blackmailed and in fear of their lives and those of their families?