White Teen Charged With Death of 2 Protestors in Kenosha, Wisconsin

By N. Jamiyla Chisholm Aug 26, 2020

During the third night of protests for Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, three people were shot—two killed and one wounded—by an Illinois teen, several media outlets reported today (August 26), including the New York Times.

The Times reports:


A court document from Lake County, Ill., shows that Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, was arrested in Antioch, Ill., on Wednesday morning after being charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the fatal shooting that took place only hours earlier. Antioch is about 30 minutes southwest of Kenosha, just over the Illinois line. More details were expected during a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.


The City of Kenosha Police Department tweeted a statement that the “shooting investigation is active and ongoing.”

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Several posters on social media had already started to share videos and photos of Rittenhouse, possibly actually showing the killing, and suggesting that he has ties to white supremacists who had the literal backing of the police. Criminal defense and civil rights attorney Rebecca Kavanagh tweeted a series of video posts that show police giving bottled water to armed white men and saying “we appreciate you guys, we really do,” over a speaker.

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Others on Twitter have echoed their outrage over the blatantly violent racism that is escalating between white law enforcement, white militia and Black people. Some even identify the alleged shooter by name, age and state.

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According to the Times, the protest was tense well before the city’s 8:00 p.m. curfew went into effect, with protestors launching water bottles, rocks and fireworks at the police outside of the courthouse and police responding with tear gas and rubber bullets. After curfew, when several remaining demonstrators shifted to a gas station, the Times reported that “a group of men with guns stood outside, promising to protect the property and verbally sparring with the arriving protesters.” 

As Kenosha’s law enforcement scour video footage to identify the gunmen, sheriff David Beth told the Times, “I’ve had people saying, ‘Why don’t you deputize citizens?’ This is why you don’t deputize citizens with guns to protect Kenosha.”