August 25, 2020. A 17-year old crosses state lines with an AR-15, to the town of Kenosha Wisconsin. The adolescent is going to protect a car lot during protests and riots following the shooting of Jacob Blake which resulted in him becoming paralyzed from the waist down at the hand of the Kenosha police, the people who should be protecting the citizens, not harming them. This young man’s name is Kyle Rittenhouse, and later on this day he would shoot 3 men, 2 of whom died.

Rittenhouse was at the Car Source dealership to protect against potential damages and provide medical aid, whether or not the help was requested is somewhat unclear as the owner’s son denies all allegations of requesting assistance. It’s also reported that at some point on that day, Rittenhouse left the dealership, when he tried to return, police prevented his return, to which he decided to go to a Car Source lot further south.

Footage shows that Kyle was being followed by a group of protesters and was attempting to evade. A man, named John Ziminski, shot into the air. Rittenhouse turned and a man with the last name Rosenbaum lunged in an attempt to take away the rifle. He then shot Rosenbaum 4 times, knowing that he was unarmed, and fled. 

As Rittenhouse fled, the group began to chase him, he had just killed someone. A man, Anthony Huber, struck Rittenhouse in the shoulder with his skateboard to try and disarm him. Huber was then shot once in the chest, perforating his right lung and his heart; he died on the scene.

The public has been very divided on whether they agree with the not-guilty verdict. Some argue that he acted in self-defense. Others argue that with Rittenhouse knowing the man was unarmed, what could he have been defending himself from? People question if the lethal form of defense was necessary at all. I encourage you to research the rest of the case and decide what you think the verdict should be.