Kyle Rittenhouse and The Law of the Pursuer

American Thinker.com ^ | August 30, 2020 | Civis Americanus

[MHGinTN]

Not correct. The kid was chased from the street to the other side of the parking lot before any shots were fired. And there are sound footprints of two different weapons fired, while the kid had only an AR.

[MHGinTN]

I am 75. When I was in grammar school, my brother brought his rifle on the school bus to have it after school for the rifle team. I carried the box of bullets.

[bunkerhill7]

“Illegal by 17 year old” this is pure BS. When I was 12 , all the kids knew how to shoot .22’s. We carried them right thru town when we were going rabbit hunting. The men would carry their 30 30s right into the bars after bagging a deer n roping it to the right hood fender. This is out outn out pure bullcrap infringements of the 2nd.

[RandallFlagg]

It would be nice if it did get overturned.
Age shouldn’t be a factor when it comes to self defense. I remember the ten-year-old girl in Oklahoma who used an AR to stop a guy from breaking into her house while her little brother was sleeping in the next room.
They called her a hero.

Kyle is a hero as well.

[T-Bird45]

Kaslin’s pronoun is “she/her”...really.

[Captain Walker]

He was on private property at the invitation of the owner. He was forced off that property by an angry violent mob.

Can you provide a link to your source for this?

Every story I've read on this states that Rosenbaum followed Rittenhouse on a street or sidewalk and then approached him as they neared a used car lot.

I have said from the beginning that the idea of a 17 year-old with an AR-15 in a riot zone was a lousy one from the beginning; there was simply no way it was going to end well.

The reply was always that he was guarding the business of a family member or a friend.

For the sake of the discussion, I will concede that it may have been a noble thing for someone to guard a friend or family member's small business, even as I may question the wisdom of having a 17 year-old in that role.

But as the story develops, there is more and more evidence that Rittenhouse wasn't simply on the scene to guard a particular business, but to guard businesses in general. And this is where the initial defense of him as someone answering a call to arms and forming up on the village green at Concord goes out the window.

I think one can have the opinion that each and every instance of Rittenhouse pulling the trigger was a legitimate act of self-defense even as one may believe that it was asinine for the kid to be out playing an armed Hamburger Helper for the local chamber of commerce in the first place.

And before everyone jumps in with tales of Normandy Beaches or Audie Murphy, let me point out that any 17 year-old in the military would be under far tighter supervision than Rittenhouse apparently was that night.

[Captain Walker]

Was he guarding the town pool?

[fireman15]

If you followed the posts more closely you would realize that the one that was being referred to as "he/she" was doodledog.

[Captain Walker]

Unlikely, he wasn't supervised by a parent, guardian or authorized (by the parent/guardian) adult. That might apply when he was with the group, but likely not when he went off on his own.

This is the elephant in the room that can't be touched, here or anywhere else.

While each shooting might be a legitimate act of self-defense, if Rittenhouse left the group at the boarded-up business on his own, then the whole portrayal of him as a protector goes right out the window; he set himself up for trouble, and found it in spades.

[fireman15]

Sorry... Doodledawg.

[SJackson]

While each shooting might be a legitimate act of self-defense, if Rittenhouse left the group at the boarded-up business on his own, then the whole portrayal of him as a protector goes right out the window

IMO all three were self defense. The problem he may have, and I have to think the basis of the murder charges, an illegal act barring the self defense act. Like accompanying your friend to "peacefully" rob a bodega, your friend shoots the bodega owner, you can be charged with murder. Of course that's not self defense, but it's the concept they'll use I suspect. I also think the chase changes things. If he shot a looter protecting the building he was at, perhaps. But he was clearly being pursued and fired in self defense.

I chuckle a bit at the comments of we/he can do this, can do that, it doesn't matter. The 2nd amendment and all, we can do anything at any age. One can, until something happens. I'm glad Kyle has good pro bono council, but an incident like this is a life ender, at least financially, for the non multi millionaires among us. And there's always the possibility that a jury will find by his presence illegally in possession of a firearm he provoked the incident, in which case his life is over. Probably not in Kenosha with competent council. In Portland, Seattle or San Francisco, who knows. Personally I think being there armed at his age was a mistake, whether with his father of not.

[fireman15]

Instead of fully buying into the leftist media narrative... Why don't you try reading the account from the kid's initial public defender attorney two days ago before passing judgement??? But thanks for letting us all know that you are one of the sheeple that believes the crap that is spewed out by CNN and MSNBC!

https://www.scribd.com/document/474027394/Pierce-Bainbridge-Statement-on-Kyle-Rittenhouse-8-28-20

[goldbux]

Excellent!

[M Kehoe]

“ironically, includes as a solution depriving him of use of a limb, such as cutting off his hand”

Hehehe.

I apologise.

5.56mm

[fireman15]

In case you have trouble with pdf files here is the statement from Kyle’s first attorneys.

“VERNON HILLS, ILLINOIS / August 28, 2020 / Pierce Bainbridge is honored to represent 17-year old Antioch, Illinois resident Kyle Rittenhouse, who has suddenly found himself at the center of a national firestorm and charged with murder after defending himself from a relentless, vicious and potentially deadly mob attack in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

On August 25th, 2020, Kenosha spiraled into chaos following the Jacob Blake shooting. The Kenosha Mayor and Wisconsin Governor failed to provide a basic degree of law and order to protect the citizens and community buildings in Kenosha. The city burned as mobs destroyed buildings and property, and looters stole whatever they wanted. Rioters defaced storefronts, the courthouse, and many other public and private locations across the city.

After Kyle finished his work that day as a community lifeguard in Kenosha, he wanted to help clean up some of the damage, so he and a friend went to the local public high school to remove graffiti by rioters. Later in the day, they received information about a call for help from a local business owner, whose downtown Kenosha auto dealership was largely destroyed by mob violence. The business owner needed help to protect what he had left of his life’s work, including two nearby mechanic’s shops. Kyle and a friend armed themselves with rifles due to the deadly violence gripping Kenosha and many other American cities, and headed to the business premises. The weapons were in Wisconsin and never crossed state lines.

Upon arrival, Kyle and others stood guard at the mechanic’s shop across from the auto dealership to prevent further damage or destruction. Later that night, substantially after the city’s 8:00 p.m. curfew expired without consequence, the police finally started to attempt to disperse a group of rioters. In doing so, they maneuvered a mass of individuals down the street towards the auto shops. Kyle and others on the premises were verbally threatened and taunted multiple times as the rioters passed by, but Kyle never reacted. His intent was not to incite violence, but simply to deter property damage and use his training to provide first aid to injured community members.

After the crowd passed the premises and Kyle believed the threat of further destruction had passed, he became increasingly concerned with the injured protestors and bystanders congregating at a nearby gas station with no immediate access to medical assistance or help from law enforcement. Kyle headed in that direction with a first aid kit. He sought out injured persons, rendered aid, and tried to guide people to others who could assist to the extent he could do so amid the chaos. By the final time Kyle returned to 2 the gas station and confirmed there were no more injured individuals who needed assistance, police had advanced their formation and blocked what would have been his path back to the mechanic’s shop. Kyle then complied with the police instructions not to go back there. Kyle returned to the gas station until he learned of a need to help protect the second mechanic’s shop further down the street where property destruction was imminent with no police were nearby.

As Kyle proceeded towards the second mechanic’s shop, he was accosted by multiple rioters who recognized that he had been attempting to protect a business the mob wanted to destroy. This outraged the rioters and created a mob now determined to hurt Kyle. They began chasing him down. Kyle attempted to get away, but he could not do so quickly enough. Upon the sound of a gunshot behind him, Kyle turned and was immediately faced with an attacker lunging towards him and reaching for his rifle. He reacted instantaneously and justifiably with his weapon to protect himself, firing and striking the attacker.

Kyle stopped to ensure care for the wounded attacker but faced a growing mob gesturing towards him. He realized he needed to flee for his safety and his survival. Another attacker struck Kyle from behind as he fled down the street. Kyle turned as the mob pressed in on him and he fell to the ground. One attacker kicked Kyle on the ground while he was on the ground. Yet another bashed him over the head with a skateboard. Several rioters tried to disarm Kyle. In fear for his life and concerned the crowd would either continue to shoot at him or even use his own weapon against him, Kyle had no choice but to fire multiple rounds towards his immediate attackers, striking two, including one armed attacker. The rest of the mob began to disperse upon hearing the additional gunshots.

Kyle got up and continued down the street in the direction of police with his hands in the air. He attempted to contact multiple police officers, but they were more concerned with the wounded attackers. The police did not take Kyle into custody at that time, but instead they indicated he should keep moving. He fully cooperated, both then and later that night when he turned himself in to the police in his hometown, Antioch, Illinois.

Kyle did nothing wrong. He exercised his God-given, Constitutional, common law and statutory law right to self-defense.

However, in a reactionary rush to appease the divisive, destructive forces currently roiling this country, prosecutors in Kenosha did not engage in any meaningful analysis of the facts, or any in-depth review of available video footage (some of which shows that a critical state’s witness was not even at the area where the shots were fired); this was not a serious investigation. Rather, after learning Kyle may have had conservative political viewpoints, they immediately saw him as a convenient target who they could use as a scapegoat to distract from the Jacob Blake shooting and the government’s abject failure to ensure basic law and order to citizens. Within 24-36 hours, he was charged with multiple homicide counts.

Kyle now has the best legal representation in the country. With help from Nicholas Sandmann attorney L. Lin Wood, Pierce Bainbridge and multiple top-tier criminal defense lawyers in Wisconsin immediately offered representation to Kyle.

Today, his legal team was successful in working with the public defender to obtain a several-week continuance of his extradition hearing to September 25th. This at least partially slows down the rush to judgment by a government and media that is determined to assassinate his character and destroy his life.

Kyle, his family, the team at Pierce Bainbridge and his other lawyers intend to fight these charges every step of the way, take the case to trial and win an acquittal on the grounds of self-defense before a jury of his peers.

The legal fees and other costs of Kyle’s defense will be provided through donations to #FightBack Foundation Inc., a Texas 501(c)(4) foundation created by John Pierce and Lin Wood to protect lawabiding American citizens whose rights are being trampled on by state and local governments that are more concerned with appeasing mobs than protecting those rights.

Pierce Bainbridge founder John Pierce praised Kyle’s strength and resilience. “A 17-year old child should not have to take up arms in America to protect life and property. That is the job of state and local governments. However, those governments have failed, and law-abiding citizens have no choice but to protect their own communities as their forefathers did at Lexington and Concord in 1775. Kyle is not a racist or a white supremacist. He is a brave, patriotic, compassionate law-abiding American who loves his country and his community. He did nothing wrong. He defended himself, which is a fundamental right of all Americans given by God and protected by law. He is now in the crosshairs of institutional forces that are much more powerful than him. But he will stand up to them and fight not only for himself, but for all Americans and their beloved Constitution. We will never leave his side until he is victorious in that fight.”

Further updates will be provided as the investigation and legal proceedings unfold.

[NautiNurse]

[fireman15]

And now a little of what you and several others in this thread deserve for buying into and spreading the leftist media narrative.

[T-Bird45]

“Kaslin has made an a$$ out of himself this morning.”

Quoting your post above that I was replying to previously. Perhaps you could follow your own advice. I’ll also note I hold the same opinion as you in this discussion. And good Sunday to you.

[Captain Walker]

"After the crowd passed the premises and Kyle believed the threat of further destruction had passed, he became increasingly concerned with the injured protestors and bystanders congregating at a nearby gas station with no immediate access to medical assistance or help from law enforcement. Kyle headed in that direction with a first aid kit."

Thanks for posting this.

Lurker posted the comment that Rittenhouse was forced off the property by "an angry violent mob" (Post 38); I hadn't heard that before. (My understanding was always that the young man took it upon himself to leave the property he was guarding, which his own lawyer confirms.)

[Captain Walker]

I'm not buying into any leftist media narrative, my friend; I think each and every shot Rittenhouse took was a measured response to a credible threat to his person and that he acted out of self-defense.

I've only maintained that a 17 year-old and an AR-15 in a riot zone was going to end in a major fail. Even if this young man walks away without a conviction, life as he knew it is over; he will probably be looking over his shoulder for the rest of his life.