A Few Questions About the Rittenhouse Case…

 

First, suppose one or more of the people that Rittenhouse shot in self-defense had been black – do you think that would that have affected the outcome of this trial?  I suspect that if one or more of the people who had attacked Rittenhouse had been black, he would have been found guilty.  I just can’t imagine a jury acquitting him in that case.  But perhaps not – what do you think?

Next, Rittenhouse was criticized for driving in from out of town to participate in the riot.  Or to protect people from the rioters.  Or whatever.  I tend to agree – I think that showed poor judgement on his part, although once he was there, he showed remarkable restraint in shooting only to defend himself from immediate deadly force.  I’m not sure that I could have limited myself as he did – panic takes over, and I can see my self over-reacting in that situation.  Anyway, the three men that he shot – all of them had criminal records, as I understand it.  I wonder if they were from out of town, like Rittenhouse?  And if so, how many people at Black Lives Matter riots are shipped in from out of town?  And if so, why is this not being talked about?

Lastly, I’m not sure how Rittenhouse is supposed to go to college and get a job like anybody else.  Does he have a case to sue people for libel or something for lost earnings?  Who?  Could he sue news outlets?  What about President Biden?  What about actors and public figures who said horrible things about him before and during the trial?  Would he have a chance of winning these cases?  Could he come out with enough money to live on for a while?  I don’t know enough about law to speculate on such things.

Thanks in advance for your input.

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  1. Doug Kimball Thatcher
    Doug Kimball
    @DougKimball

    navyjag (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat: I think that showed poor judgement on his part,

    Of course he showed poor judgement; he was a 17 year old kid. I wasn’t so hot in the judgement department when I was 17 either.

    Well if it is illegal to show poor judgement at 17 years than I think he’s guilty. But that ain’t what the trial is about.

    Weren’t 17 year old boys drafted into the infantry in WWII? And Viet Nam? I think this kid would have done ok in the 1st Division.

    In WW2, if they lied about their age.  For Vietnam, you had to register for the draft at 18.

    • #31
  2. Susan in Seattle Member
    Susan in Seattle
    @SusaninSeattle

    This is a good read.  Seems to cover the bases.

    • #32
  3. Headedwest Coolidge
    Headedwest
    @Headedwest

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat: I think that showed poor judgement on his part,

    Of course he showed poor judgement; he was a 17 year old kid. I wasn’t so hot in the judgement department when I was 17 either.

    The untrained kid showed better trigger discipline and restraint than that shown in about 90% of cop shootings that have gotten media coverage in the last decade.

    Yes. No panic, no wasted shots. Did not pull until it was absolutely necessary. I am not at all certain I could be that cool under that much pressure.

     

    • #33
  4. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Dr. Bastiat: Does he have a case to sue people for libel or something for lost earnings?  Who?  Could he sue news outlets?

    I think he does, and he might get enough money to live comfortably for the rest of his life.  In fact, that would be my basis for calculating damages . . .

    • #34
  5. Henry Castaigne Member
    Henry Castaigne
    @HenryCastaigne

    Flicker (View Comment):

    The UK Independent news says that Kyle killed wither two or three black men, depending on which headline.

    Can you please link this? I need evidence because I distrust humanity.

    • #35
  6. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    The UK Independent news says that Kyle killed wither two or three black men, depending on which headline.

    Can you please link this? I need evidence because I distrust humanity.

    I think there are screen shots of the first page of the article above.

    • #36
  7. Max Coolidge
    Max
    @Max

    Miffed White Male (View Comment):

    The untrained kid showed better trigger discipline and restraint than that shown in about 90% of cop shootings that have gotten media coverage in the last decade.

     

    Rittenhouse obviously had weapons training. 

    • #37
  8. Max Coolidge
    Max
    @Max

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    The UK Independent news says that Kyle killed wither two or three black men, depending on which headline.

    Can you please link this? I need evidence because I distrust humanity.

    I think there are screen shots of the first page of the article above.

    They’ve updated their false reporting by now, I’m sure.

    • #38
  9. Dr. Bastiat Member
    Dr. Bastiat
    @drbastiat

    Max (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    The UK Independent news says that Kyle killed wither two or three black men, depending on which headline.

    Can you please link this? I need evidence because I distrust humanity.

    I think there are screen shots of the first page of the article above.

    They’ve updated their false reporting by now, I’m sure.

    Standard operating procedure.  The initial false headline had the impact desired.  They can change it now to pretend to care about integrity. 

    Just like The Washington Post et al apologizing now for their role in the Russia collusion hoax.  It worked.  Their actions were effective.  They got rid of a president they didn’t like.  Now they retract any “mis-statements” and pretend to have integrity, so hopefully people will listen to them next time, too.

    This has worked ever since the days of Duranty.

    • #39
  10. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    Dr. Bastiat (View Comment):
    Just like The Washington Post et al apologizing now for their role in the Russia collusion hoax.  It worked.  Their actions were effective.  They got rid of a president they didn’t like.  Now they retract any “mis-statements” and pretend to have integrity, so hopefully people will listen to them next time, too.

    Except the WP hasn’t “retracted” anything about their Russia reporting yet.  Just said it might need some adjustments.

    • #40
  11. David Carroll Thatcher
    David Carroll
    @DavidCarroll

    It was interesting to see this self-defense verdict on the same day as the Rittenhouse verdict.  In the linked case, a black man shot and killed a sheriff’s deputy.  That acquittal really puts the lie in the left’s racial justice narrative, i.e., that Rittenhouse would have been convicted if he had been black.

    It is good to see juries, right or wrong, taking their jobs seriously.  

     

    • #41
  12. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Looking at those pictures of the thugs Rittenhouse shot, it occurred to me that the Democrats are just playing with the BLM and Antifa activists. The Democrats always try to broaden their market by saying, “This was directed at you!” Their followers fall for it every time.

    This issue for the Democrats has nothing to do with race. If Rittenhouse had been a thug just like the thugs in the pictures, the incident would never have made the news. The Democrats view the ongoing violence in the impoverished rims around our Mount Olympus inner cities as simple evolutionary Darwinian justice. It does not move them.

    This was about the State’s supreme monopoly on justice as it brushes against the right to self-defense. Rittenhouse was a clean-cut, nice kid who defended his own life. No, if someone is pointing a gun at us, we’re supposed to call 9-1-1.

    How does that saying go? When you have only seconds to live, the police are only minutes away.

    • #42
  13. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    Doug Kimball (View Comment):

    navyjag (View Comment):

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat: I think that showed poor judgement on his part,

    Of course he showed poor judgement; he was a 17 year old kid. I wasn’t so hot in the judgement department when I was 17 either.

    Well if it is illegal to show poor judgement at 17 years than I think he’s guilty. But that ain’t what the trial is about.

    Weren’t 17 year old boys drafted into the infantry in WWII? And Viet Nam? I think this kid would have done ok in the 1st Division.

    In WW2, if they lied about their age. For Vietnam, you had to register for the draft at 18.

    I think with their parents permission, they could join at 16.

    • #43
  14. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    Dr. Bastiat: First, suppose one or more of the people that Rittenhouse shot in self-defense had been black – do you think that would that have affected the outcome of this trial?  I suspect that if one or more of the people who had attacked Rittenhouse had been black, he would have been found guilty.  I just can’t imagine a jury acquitting him in that case.  But perhaps not – what do you think?

    I hadn’t thought that and I don’t even want to go there.

    • #44
  15. Barfly Member
    Barfly
    @Barfly

    Bob Thompson (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat: suppose one or more of the people that Rittenhouse shot in self-defense had been black – do you think that would that have affected the outcome of this trial?

    It’s a good thing for Rittenhouse that he did not shoot the man who kicked him after he fell in the street.

    That’s like saying it’s a good thing for Rittenhouse that he restrained his actions to self-defense, and didn’t shoot people who weren’t a threat. Well, yes.

    • #45
  16. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    Dr. Bastiat: Next, Rittenhouse was criticized for driving in from out of town to participate in the riot. 

    I live in Kansas City metropolitan area. Just like Kenosha, our city has a State Line road right through the middle. On the west side is Kansas, with cities like Overland Park and Leewood and Prairie Village. On the east side is Missouri with cities like Kansas City and Lees Summit and Liberty, amongst many, many more. All of them are within a 24 to 30-minute drive, or less, from each other, just like the Rittenhouses. Families such as the Rittenhouse (especially with separated parents) commonly live on both sides of the state line. To say he “drove in from out of town” is another fallacy created by a lying media. He drove 25 minutes from his mother’s house to his father’s.

    • #46
  17. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    Dr. Bastiat:   Anyway, the three men that he shot – all of them had criminal records, as I understand it.  I wonder if they were from out of town, like Rittenhouse?  And if so, how many people at Black Lives Matter riots are shipped in from out of town?  And if so, why is this not being talked about?

    Are these rhetorical questions?

    • #47
  18. cdor Member
    cdor
    @cdor

    Dr. Bastiat: Lastly, I’m not sure how Rittenhouse is supposed to go to college and get a job like anybody else.  Does he have a case to sue people for libel or something for lost earnings?  Who?  Could he sue news outlets?  What about President Biden?  What about actors and public figures who said horrible things about him before and during the trial?  Would he have a chance of winning these cases?  Could he come out with enough money to live on for a while?  I don’t know enough about law to speculate on such things.

    I’m no lawyer. But for near-term history see Nick Sandmann.

    • #48
  19. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Henry Castaigne (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    The UK Independent news says that Kyle killed wither two or three black men, depending on which headline.

    Can you please link this? I need evidence because I distrust humanity.

    It was yesterday so I don’t know where it is.  I know it’s been on Ricochet comments.

    This is a twitter link that may do it.

    https://twitter.com/JournoStephen/status/1461783448482426883/photo/1

    • #49
  20. Mad Gerald Coolidge
    Mad Gerald
    @Jose

    navyjag (View Comment):

    Weren’t 17 year old boys drafted into the infantry in WWII? And Viet Nam? I think this kid would have done ok in the 1st Division.

    I don’t know about the draft, but one day in 1984 my basic training (volunteer) bunkmate confided it was his 17th birthday.

    • #50
  21. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    Dr. Bastiat:

    Next, Rittenhouse was criticized for driving in from out of town to participate in the riot.  Or to protect people from the rioters.  Or whatever.  I tend to agree – I think that showed poor judgement on his part

    Rittenhouse’s father and extended family live in Kenosha. The distance from Antioch is less than 20 miles.  He went there to help protect a community he was familiar with and which he had family members at risk.  How many looters and arsonists were bussed in and paid by Soro’s merry band?

    The kid deserves a medal. And I hope he sues the Sh#t our of Xi Biden, the MSM and the Congressslime who slandered him.

    • #51
  22. Kozak Member
    Kozak
    @Kozak

    cdor (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat: Lastly, I’m not sure how Rittenhouse is supposed to go to college and get a job like anybody else. Does he have a case to sue people for libel or something for lost earnings? Who? Could he sue news outlets? What about President Biden? What about actors and public figures who said horrible things about him before and during the trial? Would he have a chance of winning these cases? Could he come out with enough money to live on for a while? I don’t know enough about law to speculate on such things.

    I’m no lawyer. But for near-term history see Nick Sandmann.

    • #52
  23. Miffed White Male Member
    Miffed White Male
    @MiffedWhiteMale

    cdor (View Comment):

    Dr. Bastiat: Next, Rittenhouse was criticized for driving in from out of town to participate in the riot.

    I live in Kansas City metropolitan area. Just like Kenosha, our city has a State Line road right through the middle. On the west side is Kansas, with cities like Overland Park and Leewood and Prairie Village. On the east side is Missouri with cities like Kansas City and Lees Summit and Liberty, amongst many, many more. All of them are within a 24 to 30-minute drive, or less, from each other, just like the Rittenhouses. Families such as the Rittenhouse (especially with separated parents) commonly live on both sides of the state line. To say he “drove in from out of town” is another fallacy created by a lying media. He drove 25 minutes from his mother’s house to his father’s.

    The keep repeating the “drove across state lines” because they want to make it sound like he travelled from Ohio to California just so he could shoot people.

     

    • #53
  24. iWe Coolidge
    iWe
    @iWe

    He has a solid defamation case against a LOT of people. I hope his lawsuits burn like an avenging angel with a flame thrower. 

    • #54
  25. Percival Thatcher
    Percival
    @Percival

    iWe (View Comment):

    He has a solid defamation case against a LOT of people. I hope his lawsuits burn like an avenging angel with a flame thrower.

    The archangel Ignitius.

    • #55
  26. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    Percival (View Comment):

    iWe (View Comment):

    He has a solid defamation case against a LOT of people. I hope his lawsuits burn like an avenging angel with a flame thrower.

    The archangel Ignitius.

    You made that up.

    • #56
  27. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Percival (View Comment):

    iWe (View Comment):

    He has a solid defamation case against a LOT of people. I hope his lawsuits burn like an avenging angel with a flame thrower.

    The archangel Ignitius.

    You made that up.

    Somebody needed to.

    • #57
  28. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    I hear a Denver lawyer has already filed a law suit against either Kenosha police dept., or Rittenhouse representing two of those who were shot.

    • #58
  29. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    Flicker (View Comment):

    I hear a Denver lawyer has already filed a law suit against either Kenosha police dept., or Rittenhouse representing two of those who were shot.

    Another lawyer who needs to be shunned.

    And why the hell a Denver lawyer?  Are there no bottom-feeders in Wisconsin already?

    • #59
  30. Chowderhead Coolidge
    Chowderhead
    @Podunk

    It’s not illegal to be stupid, thank God! What amazes me is the entire left is in a tizzy about how unfair the trial was. So, what specifically was wrong and what would you do different? Mob rules? Death to him and reeducation camps for us? Their answer worries me.

    Here are two Kenosha memories I have, unrelated but it always brings a smile. I was staying at a hotel there for work. Theresa Heinz was staying there too and stumping for John Kerry’s presidential bid. The big goons with curly wires were all over the hotel. So I asked the workers and they told me who it was. Now I was under pressure to finish the book I was reading, Swiftboat Vets. The lobby had a very comfortable chair to finish it. I left it on the coffee table for others to enjoy. The secret service guy smiled and winked as I went back to my room. Second point, The Brat Stop as soon as you cross into Wisconsin is delicious!

     

    • #60
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