The Wisconsin District of the Freedom Road Socialist organization rejects the sham trial and acquittal of racist murderer Kyle Rittenhouse.
From the moment 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse showed up in Kenosha, Wisconsin armed with an assault rifle, the state put him in a position to kill racial justice protesters and get away with it.
Rittenhouse was among dozens of armed racist vigilantes that confronted the righteous uprising last year that rocked Kenosha, after the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Shocking video of Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey shooting Jacob Blake seven times in the back prompted mass protests to march on the Kenosha police headquarters. Democrat Governor Tony Evers deployed National Guard troops to occupy Kenosha and enforce a curfew in an attempt to quell protests for police accountability. Predictably, the military occupation quickly escalated to violence.
Trial witnesses testified that during protests on the night August 25, 2020, police and military troops were seen communicating with Rittenhouse and other right-wing vigilantes. Witnesses say the military and police drove protesters toward the position where Rittenhouse and other armed vigilantes were waiting, setting up the deadly confrontation where Rittenhouse murdered Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and seriously injured Gaige Grosskreutz.
Circuit court Judge Bruce Schroeder took extraordinary measures throughout the trial to ensure the verdict he wanted. After days of jury deliberations Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges. The acquittal of Rittenhouse is outrageous and disgraceful, but not surprising. The state again sent the message that white racists and police can kill with impunity while African Americans and other oppressed nationalities can be killed, tortured and jailed without justification.
After the George Floyd uprising, one of the greatest uprisings in U.S. history, millions of people are joining the fight against racism and police crimes, and against the racist, capitalist system.
There is no justice in this system for the victims of Rittenhouse and other racist vigilantes. There is no justice in this system for Jacob Blake, and the untold numbers of victims of police crimes. Only the mass movement of working and oppressed people against racist and police crimes can put the system on trial and win real accountability.
The Wisconsin District of the Freedom Road Socialist organization calls on every person who is outraged by this horrendous acquittal to join the movement for real accountability, justice and a socialist future.
