KENOSHA, Wisc. — Protesters and civil-rights groups said Friday they are outraged but not surprised at the not-guilty verdict in Kyle Rittenhouse’s racially charged homicide trial.
Demonstrators outside the Kenosha, Wisconsin, courthouse lashed out with anger shortly after his acquittal, calling it a shameful racial double standard.
“If [Rittenhouse] was black, he would have been f–king executed on the street,” said a protester, who identified himself as Brandon, to The Post. “If he was black, he would have been dead or in jail.”
Another woman shouted “F–k America!” before collapsing onto her knees on the courthouse steps.
Rittenhouse — who fatally gunned down two men and injured another at a racial-justice protest in August 2020 — was acquitted of homicide, attempted homicide and reckless endangerment Friday.
“It’s just sad,” said another Kenosha resident. “The people that got killed, they didn’t get no justice.”
But she added, “I’m not surprised. We all knew this was going to happen.”
Black Lives Matter’s official Twitter page echoed that resigned rage, writing, “This is how the systems conspire to entrench #WhiteSupremacy.
“Reminder: the system is working exactly as it is meant to. The system was always meant to protect and uphold white supremacy,” the group fumed.
Rittenhouse was a 17-year-old wannabe cop in August 2020 when he brought a semi-automatic rifle to the protest over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man who was left paralyzed from the waist down.
The high-profile case sparked fury over whether Rittenhouse — who was part of a self-appointed militia — was a patriot taking a stand against a riot that broke out during the rally or simply a reckless vigilante.
Shortly after the verdict, the NRA tweeted, “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
Kenosha bystander Patricia McCloskey also hailed the verdict as a win for gun rights.
“It’s a great day for America — First Amendment and Second Amendment. He was brave and did the right thing,’’ she said of Rittenhouse.
