THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND

One of the problems with politically motivated prosecutions is that they often get their facts wrong, really wrong. One example of that is the out of control prosecution of people who participated in the January 6th Capital protests. With the loud urging of people like Nancy Pelosi and Liz Cheney the DOJ went on an all-out assault on participants in an attempt to convict those participating of attempting insurrection. But anyone who actually watched this and also watched any portion of the hours and hours of video knows that this wasn’t even close to an insurrection. It wasn’t even very violent, compared to the BLM and Antifa riots that took place in the summer of 2020. One Capital police officer died shortly after the incident and that appears to have been mostly from natural causes. No firearms were confiscated, and it appears that the deadliest weapon used by protestors was bear spray. So far, I have not seen evidence that anyone has even been charged with insurrection. Some suspects were charged, appropriately, with illegal trespass and destruction of property. Some alleged “offenders” were caught because they posed for “photo-ops” in the Capital. Real criminals don’t do that. Remember all those “photo-ops” of people connected with BLM and Antifa who rioted all over the country, attacking police and starting fires? No? That is because these people often wore hoods to disguise themselves. There was one notable exception, the guy who filmed himself during the Capital riots. But he is a known associate of Antifa, so the DOJ showed extraordinarily little interest in him.

I would not be surprised to see many, if not most, cases dismissed. There have already been suspects intimidated into pleading guilty to less serious charges to avoid continued prosecution and unaffordable legal expense. If any of these cases go to trial, an acquittal is quite possible. Even more possible will be the absolute destruction of the “insurrection myth.” Trials are dangerous things for prosecutors who act more on feelings than facts. If you want an example of that, look at the Zimmerman trial regarding the death of Trayvon Martin. He was quickly acquitted. Of course, the liberal left ignored that and there are still people marching around with Trayvon Martin signs pretending he is a martyr. They get away with this because the MSM willingly ignores the facts and never challenges this.

This is the same MSM willing to swallow the absurd claim that this was the worst insurrection since the Civil War. The same media that still pretends the big lie was Donald Trump pointing out the obvious about the 2020 election. They are even less likely to report objectively on this than they are to set the record straight regarding the Russian Collusion myth.

This background is essential to put the Kyle Rittenhouse trial into perspective. The MSM has tried to avoid covering this story, but he is now on trial, it is being televised, and it is riveting TV. This is truly a sad story, and one questions who thought it was a good idea to use a 17 year old teenager, who didn’t even have a drivers license, out there armed with an AR 15. That being said, he clearly shot the gun in self-defense because he thought he was being attacked. Even the prosecution’s witnesses proved that. The prosecutors know this, which is why they tried desperately to impeach Kyle because of things like him realizing there was a curfew in effect. They even tried to bring up the fact that he had been silent since being accused. The judge tore into the prosecutor and pointed out, correctly, that this was both unethical and illegal. It is always naïve to predict what any jury will decide, but I would rather be the defense attorneys than the prosecution attorneys.

Now the prosecutors are asking the judge to allow the jury to consider “lesser” charges. The obvious reason for that is the prosecutors realize they have failed to prove the more serious charges.

Even if the Jury were to convict Rittenhouse there would be a good chance of him getting a new trial on appeal. It was remarkable to watch the judge berate the prosecutors for doing things the judge described as clearly inappropriate. A wise prosecutor would have cut a plea deal and would never have tried this case. But that was not an option because there was tremendous political pressure to convict Rittenhouse of murder. Politics, not the law and certainly not the facts is driving this. Even now senior Democrats are declaring that Rittenhouse is obviously guilty. Reporters in the MSM have made irresponsible comments regarding this case. During the 2020 campaign, then candidate Joe Biden called Rittenhouse a White Supremacist, which is patently absurd. For one thing, everyone involved was white, so it is hard to conclude this was racially motivated.

One note that there is no pressure to convict anyone connected with BLM or Antifa for anything. This is extremely dangerous because one of the most important aspects of our judicial system is to not make decisions based on politics, ever. Reflect on John Adams defending the British soldiers charged regarding the Boston Massacre. Regardless of any other factors, Kyle Rittenhouse deserves to be judged solely on the facts and the law and nothing else.

This is extremely dangerous for the liberal left. If Rittenhouse is acquitted, expect him to file a malicious prosecution claim for millions. This could easily make him a very wealthy young man. It could also propel him to a political career. I have watched a lot of trials and a lot of witness testimony, and his performance was stunning. Do not underestimate this young man. He is a young man, the accusations against him have already been exposed as a myth and politicizing this inappropriately may just turn him into a legend.

TDM