“The jury verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse case is a terrible miscarriage of justice, a measure of how thoroughly white privilege and supremacy pervade our criminal legal system, and a reminder of the terrible toll that unrelenting systemic racism and the ‘guns everywhere’ culture are taking on our country. 

“Rittenhouse, a minor at the time, illegally chose to bring a high-powered firearm to a Black Lives Matter protest calling for justice for police-shooting victim Jacob Blake, during a time of unprecedented national mobilizations for civil rights and to end white supremacist violence. Rittenhouse murdered two protestors and wounded a third one when they tried to stop him because, by every measure, Rittenhouse appeared to be an armed and dangerous active shooter. Instead of celebrating the heroism of these individuals for trying to disarm an active shooter, today we are learning that Rittenhouse will not be held accountable. That is a travesty of justice.

“The impact of this verdict will surely be chilling, especially in a country where guns are easily available and police brutality and white vigilantism pose a growing threat. Moms know that our communities will be less safe because of this ruling, that Kyle Rittenhouse committed murder, and that this is not justice.”