This entire case is a good example of the madness currently affecting America as a country.
- On a purely legal basis, KR probably acted legally. Hence the verdict.
- However on an ethical and moral basic, everything is fucked about this case, and how a 17 year old was able to walk in the streets with an assault rifle to begin with, and kill people. Even if something is trying to beat you up at some event, that doesn't justify you killing him. I mean, otherwise, there would be millions of deaths in Europe or anywhere in the world, when two sides (ie: football fans) fight in the streets. Where is the clear proof that the skateboard dude or any other dude approaching KR were going to kill him? I mean I see it as logical behaviour by civilised people, when you see a kid with a gun, to try to go and neutralise him/grab his gun. That's what any adult would do in Europe (if he were not hiding which is the other option).
I don't think people should be able to carry firearms in the streets like that,
this is the root cause of the problem. People are fucking emotional and any situation can quickly escalate into "Im gonna defend myself and shoot you". Which is what happened here.
This is the kind of benign and generic situation where a dude gets a little beating, then goes home, and nothing happens. It didn't have to end with the dude unloading into people around him.
This is why I disagree with guns in the public space. It can escalate a situation very freaking quick, where otherwise it might just be a random fight.
I mean any random fight that people have experienced in their lives, even schoolyard fights or fights between students for a dumb reason, can end in death if a scenario where one guy carries a gun.
I feel this legal framework is why Americans can't agree on the issue. People are torn between A) Rittenhouse being legally right, but B) still have fucking killed people that weren't even carrying guns! At the very least if some dude had started SHOOTING at KR, then a shooting response would be proportional. All I see is an Armed KID that's being chased and then unloads into the crowd.
Anywhere in Europe this would be considered disproportionate response.
I can't believe how cheap life in the US is. People died for a very stupid reason.
I bet neither KR nor his victims had any idea of what they had just done (killed people) or going to happen to them (death).