Tried to retreat before trouble overtook him.
Kyle Rittenhouse can thank the prosecution for making his case — that he shot three people in self-defense. Testimony and FBI aerial video — presented by the prosecution! — showed that the teenager ran away from the belligerent who had threatened to kill him, was chasing him and trying to seize his gun.
That, it seems to the Werkes, is case closed. On the other hand, Kyle, now 18, would be in deep doo doo if he had subscribed to the modus operandi of a far-more experienced ally defending that used car sales lot in riotous Kenosha the night of 25 August 2020. Marine rifleman Jason Lackowski testified Friday (5 November 2021) that he would “Shout, shove, show, and shoot” if approached by an aggressor. “Show” his AR-15 weapon. The former Marine sharpshooter would be on steadier legal ground if he had added “try to avoid” before “shoot.” Which is what will save Kyle Rittenhouse. He ran from trouble until trouble caught up with him.
Wisconsin is a “Castle Doctrine” state but not “Stand Your Ground.” The difference between the two can be more nuanced than a sociology professors exegesis.
Wisconsin law allows lethal force if you reasonably fear being killed or injured. But you must make a reasonable attempt to avoid confrontation EXCEPT — this is where Castle Doctrine kicks in —if you are in your home, workplace, or vehicle. After all, you’re in your own home; are you supposed to cower behind the shower curtain like the abducted wife in the movie Fargo?
Stand Your Ground goes a step further. You don’t have to hide or make a run for it. (Florida does have Stand Your Ground; it exonerated George Zimmerman after he shot and killed Trayvon Martin in February 2012.)
On the evening of 25 August 2021, Rittenhouse was not in his home, not at work, nowhere near his vehicle when he fired the shots that killed two and injured one. Only after Joseph Rosenbaum ran him down and lunged for the defendant’s weapon did Rittenhouse fire. Clearly, self-defense. That he turned himself in, better yet.
Nor does the law allow deadly force to protect your property, home, or business, defense attorney Thomas Grieve of Waukesha instructs.
“Deadly force is ‘people defense,’ not ‘stuff defense’,” Grieve tells the Werkes. “Let’s say, you get home, no one else is inside and you see people throwing [things] at your house, it would probably be attempted homicide if you used deadly force against them.”
→ The Grieve law firm hosts a great Wisconsin-specific gun rights website.
The defense describes Rosenbaum as the catalyst who caused the carnage. Described by several witnesses as “belligerent,” he was also suicidal — “Shoot me! Shoot me!” he demanded— and apparently off his medications. Also threatened to kill Rittenhouse and witness Ryan Balch.
The second fatality, Anthony Huber (a man with his own criminal history) was whacking the defendant with a heavy skateboard. Photographs clearly show Gaige Grosskreutz (injured) carrying a handgun. The defendant had reason to fear imminent death or injury in all three shootings.
Judge Bruce Schroeder caught holy hell from the Woke mob for banning the term “victim” during trial. His ruling is not that much of an outlier. Grieve, one of the busiest criminal defense lawyers in the state, says that judges he faces increasingly grant his motion to ban the term. “It sets the chess board against the defendant.”
Blaska’s Bottom Line: If anyone is a victim, it is Kyle Rittenhouse and the city of Kenosha.
Blaska Policy Werkes 
17 responses to “Kyle Rittenhouse ran to innocence”
Zimmerman did not use Florida’s Stand Your Ground Law as part of his defense..
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Re: George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin, there is some dispute. This source contends “Stand Your Ground laws do not exist in some segregated section of Florida’s criminal code. They are not bracketed off from the rest of Florida’s standard self-defense laws. Stand Your Ground laws are integral to the very meaning of self-defense in the state.”
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I’m surprised that California is a stand your ground state but Arkansas and North Dakota aren’t?
I don’t think Rittenhouse should have been there that night. It wasn’t his place. It’s the job of the police and military to keep everyone safe from crazed anarchists, not civilians!
The people who took an oath to protect us, with the help of Evers, failed the people of Wisconsin big time, and by extension, they failed Rittenhouse. So I agree that in a sense, he was also a victim.
In that article you linked to, the author seems aggrieved that the judge is allowing the “victims” to be referred to as “looters, rioters and arsonists in open court.” I suppose that terminology might prejudice the jury if it wasn’t true. But the fact that they are indeed looters, rioters and arsonists (or at least part of a group that was doing those things in a chaotic environment) helps describe the “victims” state of mind that evening, and why Rittenhouse felt the need to defend himself. The judge made the right call.
She also writes: “Never mind that these victims – that word again – were never convicted (or even charged) of actual looting the night they were shot.” That’s because the police are being instructed to stand back. Do leftists not get this?
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That and the fact that it is difficult to try dead men in court.
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I was surprised about California, too. Further research says California is Stand Your Ground only by judicial decision, not statute. Same holds true for Oregon, Washington, Illinois, New Mexico, Vermont, Virginia, and Colorado.
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Not allowed to use the word “victim”.
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What I don’t get is why do I have to comply with different laws in different states when it comes to defending my or my fellow man’s life or property? I would think that this would be a universal principle enshrined in law for all of us who are Americans. Oh, that would be the 2nd Amendment to Our U.S. Constitution which states in clear plain language that: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
If you come to burn down my neighbors house what guarantee do I have that you won’t burn down my house as well?
The anarchists among us do not understand that the anarchy they want to foist upon all of us is and will be always unsettling in our minds. That is why many of us keep loaded guns ready for what is a home invasion. Break into my house and you will taste the products of my 12 gauge shot gun. Break into my neighbors house and you will deal with the same. I deal with the attack on my neighbors house as an attack on society as an attack on my neighbors house is just a forewarning as an attack on my house.
The reason people like Kyle wanted to restore order to a chaotic society is that they did not want the same chaos to be foisted upon their communities. That left allowed, the chaos that was experienced in Kenosha was indicative of what chaos was coming to all communities across the country. That this chaos, unstopped, would eventually come to his community as well.
That is my defense of what Kyle did.
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The answer to your question, Bill, is a concept known as “federalism.” The states have sovereignty over what constitutes criminal law (unless a federal property is involved). The main issue before the court in Kenosha is not whether Kyle Rittenhouse was allowed possession of a gun (he was not — at age 17 he was not an adult by WI law and probably will be found guilty on that misdemeanor) but whether he committed murder. States that unduly restrict possession of a weapon, as New York does by severely restricting carry)are facing U.S. Supreme Court scrutiny. (“Heller” applied to D.C. only.) It is universally accepted that rights enjoyed by adults are not always enjoyed by children.
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David,
I guess I grew up at a time when all of us had guns and never used them other than to hunt wild game with them. When I went to high school back in the early 1970’s, I saw guys who left their guns in the rack in the back window of their unlocked pick up truck in the parking lot of the high school so they could use their guns for hunting right after school.
No one would ever dream of taking the guns of the pick up truck or car, as that would result in an epic beatdown by your fellow school mates.
BTW- They would also leave the keys above the visor or in the ignition or in the glove compartment as no one would ever dream of stealing someones car or truck.
I have personally held a gun in my hands ever since I was old enough to hunt. Been on many a drive since I was 14 or 15 years of age. Shot many a round in target practice since I was around 9 or 10 years of age.
If I, as a minor, had to shoot someone dead in self defense in the town I lived in, that was just north of Mad Town, I would have had the cops in that town congratulate me on my excellent shot. Now that I am older, I’ll let the 12 gauge do the talking, not the 9 mm or the 30/30. Just got to point in the general direction, eyes ain’t as good as they used to be.
After seeing the 67 riots right out my back door in Newark and the 68 riots outside my back door in Chicago, I am left wondering if we the people had responded to their neighborhoods being burnt to the ground, by the marxist scum, with the force of arms, would the riots ever had taken place?
I guess that is why my parents moved just north of Madison. To let their children grow up in a place where the people respected law and order.
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“Rooftop Koreans” took to their businesses’ roofs South Central L.A. in the early 90’s I think, during or after the Rodney King riots. They sent a clear message to rioters and arsonists.
To this day the phrase “rooftop Koreans” is well-known in certain quarters. I wonder if it’s part of the Black-on-Asian resentment as well as the academic CRT B.S. seeping into our culture that refers to Asians as white or white-adjacent. Seems Asians are maybe the unspoken targets of the racial grievance-mongers who are eliminating TAG programs, grades, and honors programs in schools because they have failed to provide even a minimal education to Blacks…. so now it’s time to tear down and prevent anyone else from succeeding.
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A great reason to also equip your bag of tricks with Pepper Gel/Spray (the large capacity Bear Spray variety is what I prefer), along with a quality Stun gun (not the cheap variety). Great “stuff” protection.
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If only young Kyle Rittenhouse had shot a cinematographer on a film set,
… he could have avoided this pesky trial altogether.
Skateboard for sale, like new, used only once.
Owner doesn’t need it anymore.
Voofda! Too soon?
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Here is some of the photos I stripped from video regarding the Rittenhouse case.
The Zimmerman case was pure self defense just like the Rittenhouse case.
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Well that link was supposed to link directly to the comment not the top of the page. Scroll down and you’ll find the photos.
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Also it’s fair to say that there was lots audio of the yelling protesting crowd that was chasing Rittenhouse to “GET HIM” and at one point in one of the videos I heard someone yell “KILL THAT SOB”.
If they actually convict Rittenhouse of murder for what is clearly self defense, I might be one of the next group of protesters in the Kenosha streets.
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Great graphic, David. I had no idea at all, now I know. And Yes ! The prosecution thus far has definitely made the defense’s case. BTW, The Daily Caller “Daily Shorts” seems to have the most informative, yet concise, testimony -Since the get-go ! https://youtu.be/xBiILN6Y3WU Thanks for another thought-provoking post, Dave.
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Is it just me or is skateboard guy being treated like a middle child?
Lots of testimony about Rosenbaum and yesterday tiny bicep guy took the stand.
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