A year ago, Kyle Rittenhouse stood against a mob. Today, 12 more stood against a mob when the jury found him not guilty of all counts--standing up against those outside threatening violence, and despite being followed and photographed earlier in the trial.
And the president, the person who is sworn to uphold the Constitution and ensure the laws are faithfully executed, showed what a truly despicable person he is.
I understand the governor of Wisconsin had 500 national guardsmen on the streets of Kenosha in anticipation of the verdict. If he'd have done that a year ago, none of this would have been necessary.
Kyle Rittenhouse is a good American who was forced to endure a political show trial to appease rioters and racists. Screw all of them--and if fires start burning in cities tonight, screw them even more. One of the primary functions of government is to maintain the peace and protect property, and if they won't do it, someone should.
I'll be honest, I thought the jury might cave to the mob and find him guilty of at least one count. That they didn't speaks well to their integrity and character.
Today was a good day for justice.
Update: Instapundit says it well:
Of course, the real responsibility is that of politicians and law enforcement who let armed lefty thugs rampage at will in the streets, necessitating self-defense by people who had every right to expect the government to stand between them and the thugs. This is malfeasance, and in a just world those officials would be on trial.
If you don’t want people taking guns into scenes of civil unrest, then don’t pull police out and leave citizens to fend for themselves in scenes of civil unrest.
Update #2, 11/20/21: Was this man let off the hook--in Florida, no less!--because of his skin color, or because he wasn't guilty?
Some details:
A jury found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all accounts on Friday afternoon. On the same day as the Rittenhouse acquittal, another young man who claimed he fired a gun in self-defense was also found not guilty of murder.
“A jury found Andrew ‘A.J.’ Coffee IV, 27, not guilty of second-degree felony murder, three counts of attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer by discharging a firearm, and one count of shooting or throwing a deadly missile,” the TC Palm reported on Friday.
Around 5 a.m. on March 19, 2017, at least 14 law enforcement officers — including SWAT team members in camouflage pants and shirts with “SWAT” on the sleeve — arrived at the home in Gifford, Florida. The shooter’s father, Andrew Coffee III, reportedly opened the front door to the house and was taken into custody by officers, according to Vero News.
Before entering the house, deputies yelled, “sheriff’s office search warrant,” according to witness statements from deputies.
“Coffee IV told the court he was asleep at the time the SWAT team arrived,” the TC Palm reported. “He woke up and thought he was being robbed. Coffee said he saw what appeared to be a rifle sticking through an open bedroom window pointed at him. That’s when he fired a .45-caliber pistol out of the window, shooting two or three times.”
Deputies returned fire with more than a dozen rounds shot towards the bedroom, according to court records. Andrew’s 21-year-old girlfriend, Alteria Woods, was killed after reportedly being struck by 10 bullets fired by the SWAT team, including one bullet that entered her chest.
I don't support such raids by police. Too much can, and often does, go wrong. Looks like justice went 2-0 here.
There's more, though:
The younger Coffee was acquitted of all of the murder charges after claiming he fired in self-defense. However, he was found guilty of possession of a firearm or ammunition by a convicted felon. Coffee — who has four felony convictions — faces a maximum prison term of 30 years at his sentencing on Jan. 13.
If you're in fear for your life, self-defense is a legitimate plea.
Update #3, 11/21/20: Maybe such stupidity works for those who don't know any history, but for those of us who do, I'd say the NAACP president jumped the shark with this comment:
On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Last Word,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson stated that Kyle Rittenhouse’s acquittal “was an injustice. This was worse than the Emmett Till trial.”
Early morning, pre-dawn raids are loved by law enforcement, because they think it gives them an edge over discombobulated targets. Instead, time and again, we see things play out as they did in Coffee's case, for example, in Cory Maye's (he was on death row, before being freed.)
ReplyDeletePre-dawn raids should rarely be done, and should require a higher level of warrant. Investigators should have to prove to a judge, in person, that there are valid, evidence-based reasons why they must go in in the dead of night. Judges should not merely rubber-stamp warrant requests like this, and should actually grill investigators and make sure the warrant is truly justified, and that the cops have their facts straight. Too often, warrants are granted based on vague and mistaken evidence. And, wrong door raids are far too common. The entire thing is too sloppy and haphazard.
I understand why police do predawn raids-suspects are less likely to be alert and they are more likely to be easily subdued. But there's little consistency across the board. For example, a female police officer in Dallas, who had previously been attacked by a larger black man and probably didn't get proper debriefing, shot and killed Bokam John in his apartment, mistaking it for her own. She is in prison for ten years. Meanwhile a Somali born Minneapolis cop shoots a woman who called 911 in her backyard and gets 57 months in prison. Where's the parity? BTW judges require very specific evidence to give warrants for all out raids. It happens the events in that case showed drugs being sold from the victim's apartment repeatedly over a series of weeks. And that was after a dead body of a rival drug seller was found in the trunk of her car.
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