Update Re Kyle Rittenhouse

Apparently Rittenhouse's legal team has put out a statement. I couldn't locate it quickly with searches, but TGP has extensive excerpts. Of most interest is the following. Rittenhouse, who we learned previously, had been laid off a lifeguard job in IL during the pandemic, was working as a lifeguard in Kenosha:

In a statement by Rittenhouse’s legal team at Pierce Bainbridge, provided to the Gateway Pundit, “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 statement continues. “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.”

 What that means is that Rittenhouse is clear on IL charges--as are, presumably, his parents. If any federal charges might have applied, he's clear on those, too. On the other hand, the WI weapons charge--a misdemeanor for Rittenhouse, a minor--remains, and whoever supplied Rittenhouse with the rifle is in felony trouble.

Additionally, while Rittenhouse did a dumb thing, the fact that he didn't travel to Kenosha with a rifle he obtained in IL tends to make him look more dumb and less intent on hurting anyone.

Kyle Rittenhouse

I didn't really want to write about this, but it may be useful to place this kid in some sort of context.

I agree with those who maintain that, from a strictly legal point of view, he almost certainly shot three criminals in self defense.

However, that won't be the end of the story and it doesn't mean that either Rittenhouse or the other knuckleheads he was apparently with were behaving sensibly. He shouldn't have been on "riot duty"--contrary to what he told the Daily Caller, that wasn't his "job" because he wasn't trained for it. Rittenhouse's lack of training as well as the lack of training of the others he was with, showed in how events went down. They clearly had no coherent plan for what they intended to do if they were confronted or even surrounded by an aggressive and hostile crowd. The result was they got run out of the area they claimed to be defending, so from that standpoint they were ineffective.

That said, the people who hold the greatest responsibility for ALL the violence in Kenosha following the arrest of Jacob Blake are government officials. Above all, --and, above all, WI governor Tony Evers who turned down President Trump's offer of 500 National Guard troops to help an overstretched local law enforcement contingent.

Further, Rittenhouse was 17. I'm not an expert on IL or WI gun laws, but a cursory bit of research leads me to believe that he was not legally allowed to own or possess the rifle he was carrying in either state--no matter that WI is an "open carry" state. Gun laws can be a bit complicated, but it seems clear enough that he was in violation of IL law and almost certainly of WI law. Beyond that, whoever gave him access to the rifle is probably in serious trouble--at least in IL.

Who is Kyle Rittenhouse? Naturally, we're finding out more and more about him as the day goes on.