{O/C}
{Good evening. Topping the news tonight.}
Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges on Friday after vindicating himself for acting in self-defense after the deadly Kenosha shootings last year that prompted Americans to rid the world of racism, root and branch.
The court's final verdict had Rittenhouse choking up and falling forward towards the defence table as he was taken aback.
At the same time, the verdict elicited palpable anger and disappointment from those who consider him an advocate of vigilantism.
{SOT}
An emotional moment as the verdict was delivered.
{SOUNDBITE 0:05 - 0:12} "We the jury find the defendant, Kyle H. Rittenhouse, not guilty."
A huge sigh of relief as Rittenhouse was taken aback by the jury's decision to vindicate him and acquit him of all charges.
Tearing up, sobbing, falling forward towards the defence table and hugging one of his lawyers as a court clerk recited "not guilty" five times.
Rittenhouse was charged with homicide, attempted homicide, and reckless endangering for killing two men and wounding a third with a semi-automatic rifle back in summer last year, during a tumultuous night of protests in the fallout of the shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, by a white Kenosha police officer.
America then reached a crossroads, where many Americans began their fight against racism, while others, apathetic or whipping up racial prejudice.
At the same time, apoplectic with rage, the girlfriend of Anthony Huber, one of the White men shot in the incident, spoke out.
Hannah Gittings, girlfriend of Anthony Huber: Every day I wish I could come home to him. But I can't, because he's dead. And now this system is telling me, that nobody needs to answer for that.
The Kenosha County District Attorney's office issued a statement, saying, "while we are disappointed with the verdict, it must be respected", calling on the public not to resort to violence.
U.S. President Joe Biden also threw in his two cents, echoing the District Attorney's office's statement.
Joe Biden, U.S. President: I stand by with what the jury has concluded. The jury system works.
Although concrete progress in the Biden administration's fight against racial prejudice serves as a litmus test of his stance towards racism, many people are indignant by dint of Biden's reaction to the verdict, believing it's an expose of how racism is still taking a toll on America.
While prosecutors portrayed Rittenhouse as a "wannabe soldier" as he was a police youth cadet and a person who has an axe to grind, Rittenhouse took the stand, vindicating himself by saying he killed the two White men, Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and wounding another, in self-defence. He also denied any maleficent intent.
The bloodshed was the coup de grace to the Kenosha shooting.
Be that as it may, anti-racism advocates remain adamant the verdict is not the denouement.
Rittenhouse had also been charged with possession of a lethal weapon by a person under 18, a misdemeanour that carries nine months behind bars and apt to lead to a conviction.
Meantime, irate protesters took to the streets in New York, denouncing the verdict as iniquitous and saying there isn't even a modicum of truth in Rittenhouse's testimony.
Like it or not, the delivery of the verdict appears to be the culmination of the criminal case against Rittenhouse. It's also long odds that he'll face any federal charges since federal law only applies in very limited cases for homicides.
Despite the indubitable verdict, hundreds of thousands of anti-racism advocates grinned and bore it as they make a valiant effort in their quest for a society that's free of racism.
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