Earlier this year the verdict for two very controversial cases was made. The first was about the death of Ahmaud Arbery, the second was Kyle Rittenhouse’s case. These two cases were very publicized and polarized due to their ties to racism and gun violence.
Ahmaud Arbery’s case gained a lot of attention because it was a matter of racism. Arbery went on a run one morning and encountered three white men that ended his life. These men believed that Abrey was a disturbance in the neighborhood and targeted him.
Arbery never caused any trouble in the neighborhood, he was signaled out because he was a black man. Arbery died on February 23, 2020. His case was in process for over a year before a final verdict was ruled. In the ruling, the judges found suspects Travis Michael, Gregory McMichael, William Bryan guilty on almost all counts against them.
In this instance justice was served and there wasn’t much backlash over the verdict. Kyle Rittenhouse’s case is similar to Ahmaud Arbey’s.
Kyle Rittenhouse is an 18-year-old that was at a street protest in Kenosha defending businesses from being looted. While there, Kyle was armed and ended up shooting three people.
When Kyle was arrested, he was seventeen-years-old. In the United States, minors are not allowed to possess or buy a gun. Kyle, who was underaged, carried the gun when he shot the men, the gun itself having been bought by a friend of his. Rittenhouse killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and injured Gaige Grosskreutz.
Kyle was charged with 5 felonies, first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, and first degree recklessly endangering safety.
In the beginning of his trial, he was also being charged with underage possession of a weapon, but that charge was ultimately shot down.
Kyle was arrested in August 2020, the decision was reached in late November of 2021. The verdict was that Kyle fired his gun in self-defense, and was therefore not guilty of any of the charges against him. This received plenty of backlash, partly because Kyle was not at the age to have a gun in his possession.
For many people, this case isn’t about justice and whether or not it was served, it’s the question of whether this verdict would’ve been the same had it been anyone else being charged. What if Kyle was not a white conservative? What if he was a black man from an urban background who happened to use the gun in self defense, would the verdict be the same?
