Polarised US politics on trial

In the run-up to Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial, US legal experts cautioned that no matter which way the verdicts fell, larger political conclusions should not be drawn from the case.

But in a highly politicised and polarised America, that’s exactly what transpired after Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all counts yesterday.

Elected leaders and pundits on the Right declared the verdict a victory for gun rights and the use of self-defence, and a defeat for media entities they argued had unfairly smeared Rittenhouse.

‘‘God Bless America!’’ Illinois Republican Congresswoman Mary Miller – who apologised earlier this year for referencing Adolf Hitler in a speech – tweeted moments after the verdict. ‘‘Never surrender your Second Amendment right to defend yourself and your family.’’

Many on the Left decried the verdict as a gross miscarriage of justice that allowed a white teenager toting an AR-15-style rifle to walk free after killing two demonstrators and wounding a third amid the chaotic fallout from the Kenosha, Wisconsin police shooting of black man Jacob Blake in August 2020. Some doubted that the same verdicts would have been returned on a defendant of colour.

‘‘This is a horrible decision and a miscarriage of justice. It sends a horrible message to those who are exercising their First Amendment rights,’’ said Illinois Democratic Congressman Bobby Rush.

Before the trial began, it was widely known that Rittenhouse had benefited from fundraising tied to far-Right interests that tried to overturn the 2020 US presidential election, and how he flashed a hand sign appropriated by white supremacist groups while wearing a ‘‘Free as F...’’ T-shirt and drinking in a Wisconsin bar after his arrest.

Prosecutors said they had evidence that after a hearing earlier this year, Rittenhouse met for lunch with several high-ranking members of the Proud Boys, a misogynistic, white supremacist far-Right group known for street fights.

The judge overseeing Rittenhouse’s case, Bruce Schroeder, barred discussion of that evidence at the trial, ruling that it would affect Rittenhouse’s right to a fair trial.

Rittenhouse’s actions were thrust into a hotly contested presidential campaign last year between Joe Biden and thenpresident Donald Trump, with both visiting Kenosha in the days following the shooting of Blake and the deaths of the protesters. Biden’s campaign featured a photo of Rittenhouse in an advertisement that criticised Trump for refusing to condemn white supremacists, while Trump defended Rittenhouse’s actions.

For many black Americans, Rittenhouse’s acquittal has confirmed their belief that America has two justice systems: One for white people and another for black people.

Activists have pointed to differences in how police handled Rittenhouse’s case and that Jacob Blake. Video footage played during the trial showed Rittenhouse running towards police still carrying his rifle, and continuing past the police line at officers’ direction.

Schroeder’s handling of the trial drew scrutiny at several points, including when he said before it began that the men Rittenhouse shot could not be referred to as ‘‘victims’’ in court.

Rittenhouse’s acquittal has created fear that protesters against racial injustice and other causes will be in danger from Right-wing causes that consider Rittenhouse a hero.

Veteran civil rights leader and activist the Rev Jesse Jackson said the verdicts suggested that ‘‘it’s open season on human rights demonstrators’’.

‘‘[Jacob] Blake, who was originally the issue, was shot by a policeman seven times in the back. He’s in a wheelchair today, paralysed forever. And that policeman is walking the streets of Kenosha, on the force today,’’ Jackson said.