The Statement
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VERNON HILLS, ILLINOIS / August 28, 2020 / Pierce Bainbridge is honored to represent 17-year old Antioch, Illinois resident Kyle Rittenhouse, who has suddenly found himself at the center of a national firestorm and charged with murder after defending himself from a relentless, vicious and potentially deadly mob attack in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
On August 25th, 2020, Kenosha spiraled into chaos following the Jacob Blake shooting. The Kenosha Mayor and Wisconsin Governor failed to provide a basic degree of law and order to protect the citizens and community buildings in Kenosha. The city burned as mobs destroyed buildings and property, and looters stole whatever they wanted. Rioters defaced storefronts, the courthouse, and many other public and private locations across the city.
After Kyle finished his work that day as a community lifeguard in Kenosha, he wanted to help clean up some of the damage, so he and a friend went to the local public high school to remove graffiti by rioters.
Later in the day, they received information about a call for help from a local business owner, whose downtown Kenosha auto dealership was largely destroyed by mob violence. The business owner needed help to protect what he had left of his life’s work, including two nearby mechanic’s shops. Kyle and a friend armed themselves with rifles due to the deadly violence gripping Kenosha and many other American cities, and headed to the business premises. The weapons were in Wisconsin and never crossed state lines.
Upon arrival, Kyle and others stood guard at the mechanic’s shop across from the auto dealership to prevent further damage or destruction. Later that night, substantially after the city’s 8:00 p.m. curfew expired without consequence, the police finally started to attempt to disperse a group of rioters. In doing so, they maneuvered a mass of individuals down the street towards the auto shops. Kyle and others on the premises were verbally threatened and taunted multiple times as the rioters passed by, but Kyle never reacted. His intent was not to incite violence, but simply to deter property damage and use his training to provide first aid to injured community members.
After the crowd passed the premises and Kyle believed the threat of further destruction had passed, he became increasingly concerned with the injured protestors and bystanders congregating at a nearby gas station with no immediate access to medical assistance or help from law enforcement. Kyle headed in that direction with a first aid kit. He sought out injured persons, rendered aid, and tried to guide people to others who could assist to the extent he could do so amid the chaos. By the final time Kyle returned to 2 the gas station and confirmed there were no more injured individuals who needed assistance, police had advanced their formation and blocked what would have been his path back to the mechanic’s shop. Kyle then complied with the police instructions not to go back there. Kyle returned to the gas station until he learned of a need to help protect the second mechanic’s shop further down the street where property destruction was imminent with no police were nearby.
As Kyle proceeded towards the second mechanic’s shop, he was accosted by multiple rioters who recognized that he had been attempting to protect a business the mob wanted to destroy. This outraged the rioters and created a mob now determined to hurt Kyle. They began chasing him down. Kyle attempted to get away, but he could not do so quickly enough. Upon the sound of a gunshot behind him, Kyle turned and was immediately faced with an attacker lunging towards him and reaching for his rifle. He reacted instantaneously and justifiably with his weapon to protect himself, firing and striking the attacker.
Kyle stopped to ensure care for the wounded attacker but faced a growing mob gesturing towards him. He realized he needed to flee for his safety and his survival. Another attacker struck Kyle from behind as he fled down the street. Kyle turned as the mob pressed in on him and he fell to the ground. One attacker kicked Kyle on the ground while he was on the ground. Yet another bashed him over the head with a skateboard. Several rioters tried to disarm Kyle. In fear for his life and concerned the crowd would either continue to shoot at him or even use his own weapon against him, Kyle had no choice but to fire multiple rounds towards his immediate attackers, striking two, including one armed attacker. The rest of the mob began to disperse upon hearing the additional gunshots.
Kyle got up and continued down the street in the direction of police with his hands in the air. He attempted to contact multiple police officers, but they were more concerned with the wounded attackers. The police did not take Kyle into custody at that time, but instead they indicated he should keep moving. He fully cooperated, both then and later that night when he turned himself in to the police in his hometown, Antioch, Illinois.
Kyle did nothing wrong. He exercised his God-given, Constitutional, common law and statutory law right to self-defense.
However, in a reactionary rush to appease the divisive, destructive forces currently roiling this country, prosecutors in Kenosha did not engage in any meaningful analysis of the facts, or any in-depth review of available video footage (some of which shows that a critical state’s witness was not even at the area where the shots were fired); this was not a serious investigation. Rather, after learning Kyle may have had conservative political viewpoints, they immediately saw him as a convenient target who they could use as a scapegoat to distract from the Jacob Blake shooting and the government’s abject failure to ensure basic law and order to citizens. Within 24-36 hours, he was charged with multiple homicide counts.
Kyle now has the best legal representation in the country. With help from Nicholas Sandmann attorney L. Lin Wood, Pierce Bainbridge and multiple top-tier criminal defense lawyers in Wisconsin immediately offered representation to Kyle.
Today, his legal team was successful in working with the public defender to obtain a several-week continuance of his extradition hearing to September 25th. This at least partially slows down the rush to judgment by a government and media that is determined to assassinate his character and destroy his life.
Kyle, his family, the team at Pierce Bainbridge and his other lawyers intend to fight these charges every step of the way, take the case to trial and win an acquittal on the grounds of self-defense before a jury of his peers.
The legal fees and other costs of Kyle’s defense will be provided through donations to #FightBack Foundation Inc., a Texas 501(c)(4) foundation created by John Pierce and Lin Wood to protect law abiding American citizens whose rights are being trampled on by state and local governments that are more concerned with appeasing mobs than protecting those rights.
Pierce Bainbridge founder John Pierce praised Kyle’s strength and resilience. “A 17-year old child should not have to take up arms in America to protect life and property. That is the job of state and local governments. However, those governments have failed, and law-abiding citizens have no choice but to protect their own communities as their forefathers did at Lexington and Concord in 1775.
Kyle is not a racist or a white supremacist. He is a brave, patriotic, compassionate law-abiding American who loves his country and his community. He did nothing wrong. He defended himself, which is a fundamental right of all Americans given by God and protected by law. He is now in the crosshairs of institutional forces that are much more powerful than him. But he will stand up to them and fight not only for himself, but for all Americans and their beloved Constitution. We will never leave his side until he is victorious in that fight.”
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Apparently, family/friends set up a GoFundMe, which was shut down.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/aug/27/kyle-rittenhouse-gofundme-campaigns-removed/
GoFundMe said the campaigns were taken down for violating its terms of service but did not specify further. Its terms prohibit “activity that GoFundMe may deem in its sole discretion to be unacceptable.”
It was not clear how many related campaigns were pulled from GoFundMe or the amount they raised, although The Times found at least three that had together raised at least $1,000.
A campaign for Mr. Rittenhouse created on rival crowdfunding site Fundly raised more than $50,000 within several hours Wednesday, meanwhile, but subsequently disappeared as well.
Fundly did not immediately return a message requesting comment.
You can use GoFundMe for legal fees: https://www.gofundme.com/c/blog/how-to-pay-for-lawyer
However, when R. Kelly set up a GoFundMe for his legal expenses it was shut down:
GoFundMe spokeswoman Jenny Perillo. “I can confirm that our terms of service prohibit raising money on GoFundMe for the legal defense of a violent crime.”
GoFundMe’s fine print says the crowdfunding site cannot be used for “campaigns we deem, in our sole discretion, to be in support of, or for the legal defense of alleged crimes associated with hate, violence, harassment, bullying, discrimination, terrorism, or intolerance of any kind relating to race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, sex, gender or gender identity, or serious disabilities or diseases.”
Critics might say that covers a lot of ground. Some would argue a campaign “in support of” hate crimes is not the same as a campaign for the legal defense of someone accused of them. Of course, GoFundMe is a private corporation and is under no legal obligation to help anyone raise any money for anything.
At the moment there are GoFundMe campaigns on behalf of Roger Stone, Michael Cohen, “justice for Jussie” Smollett, and for Paul Manafort. (Money raised for Manafort so far: $5.) None are accused of violent crimes, but all are accused of serious offenses.
One awkward question raised by GoFundMe’s policies is what would happen if a poor, unknown person — someone without fame or rich friends — found themselves wrongly accused of a violent crime. Under the company’s rules, as applied in the case of Kelly, it would seem that they, too, might be unable to raise defense funds on the platform.
The paradox is that if R. Kelly had used GoFundMe to pay his legal bills during his battles with the Internal Revenue Service, he might now have some money to pay for his legal defense against charges of sex with minors. GoFundMe rules say nothing about legal defense funds for fighting the IRS.
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I am sure the situation with the shooting is not as simple as people want to say. I am sure it was not a vigilante, and I am sure that it was not 100% self-defense.
But one thing is for certain. Same as it was for Mr. Blake, and Mr. Floyd, and this guy.
They made some really bad choices to even put themselves in the situation where there are a good chance of bad things happening.
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@taiwan_girl said in The Statement:
I am sure the situation with the shooting is not as simple as people want to say. I am sure it was not a vigilante, and I am sure that it was not 100% self-defense.
He was attacked from behind, having just heard gunshots. That's reasonable fear for your life.
They made some really bad choices to even put themselves in the situation where there are a good chance of bad things happening.
IOW they were "asking for it?"
But, as the NRO article said in it's last sentence on the subject, "Where the f*** were the parents?"
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@George-K said in The Statement:
IOW they were "asking for it?"
I think that "asking for it" is too strong.
But if Mr. Floyed had not resisted arrest, if Mr. Blake did not walk away from the police, if Mr.Rittenhouse wasn't going around with a loaded gun in an area with high tempers, etc, what happened to those three guys would not have happened.
The result should not have happened - so many lives changed for the worst. But, in these three case, each of them have some of the blame (no matter how small or how large that amount is.)
That does not excuse the final result for each of them however.
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There's no such thing as 90% self defense. You either need to defend yourself or you don't. So yes, it was 100% self defense.
Too many people today have forgotten where our rights come from, and what role our Constitution plays in those rights. Far too many people think we get our rights FROM to Constitution. That is 100% incorrect. In fact the Constitution states quite clearly where our rights come from. The Constitution cannot and does not give you ANY rights. It can only place limits on your rights, within reason and in accordance with what we the people allow it to do. Those limits are called laws. We have a system of laws that regulate and oversee those limits. Our rights come from God. If you don't believe in God then that's fine, just think of it as our rights existing naturally.
We have a God given (natural) right to defend ourselves from danger. The laws cannot infringe on that right. It can only set limits on how we exercise our right to defend ourselves. That limit is this: "fear for our lives". The limit the law places on your natural God given right to defend yourself is you must feel in fear for your life. I cannot come along after the fact and decide that you weren't in fear for your life - if you say you were, then by law, you were. The only other limit the law places on your right to self defense is that your response must be roughly in line with the threat. In other words, im not allowed to beat you half to death because you slapped me in the face. "Fear for your life" however is literally a legal definition which if reasoably invoked says you can kill the threat and there's nothing the law can do. The fact that the people in charge of the law are trying to prosecute is proof the Constitution is being abused.
- It is legal to own and carry a rifle.
- Why he was carrying a rifle is none of the law's business.
- Why he was in the area is none of the law's business.
- The only thing that IS the law's business is why he shot and killed someone.
- If he says he was in fear for his life and can show a reason for feeling that way, the law cannot do a thing.
Period.
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@Larry said in The Statement:
- It is legal to own and carry a rifle.
- Why he was carrying a rifle is none of the law's business.
- Why he was in the area is none of the law's business.
Open carry is legal in Wisconsin if you're more than 18 years old.
He's 17, and that's a misdemeanor.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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Fine. Put him in jail for six months.
Always remember, Operation Valkyrie was an act of sedition.
Warning: I post things that interest me. Read and comment at your own discretion. -
It is interesting that in Republic of Korea, in any auto accident, there can never be only one driver at fault.
For example, if you are parked at a stop light waiting for the light to turn green, and someone behind you does not stop and hits you, you are partially at fault.
The thinking is that if you were not there, he would not have hit you. The person behind you may be found to be 99+% at fault, but it will never be 100%.
Kind of funny way of thinking of things. LOL
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@George-K said in The Statement:
He's 17, and that's a misdemeanor.
According to news reports he was charged with “possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18” which is a felony. One of 6 felony charges he faces.
It’s always something.
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All I know is what I saw listed as his charges. I don’t know how the law works in practice.
Google “rittenhouse charges” and see for yourself.
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Wow, the fact that the gun was illegally in his possession fucks him on every single charge.
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@jon-nyc said in The Statement:
All I know is what I saw listed as his charges. I don’t know how the law works in practice.
Google “rittenhouse charges” and see for yourself.
I did. The first link - “ Rittenhouse is accused of killing Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake; and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha. The Illinois teenager also faces felony charges of attempted first-degree intentional homicide and two charges of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, and a misdemeanor charge of possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.”
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Yep. My link has it as a misdemeanor.
Funny, when I posted that to George all I had read was this Foxnews piece:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/charges-filed-rittenhouse-kenosha-shootings
Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley filed the charges against Kyle Rittenhouse, which include one count of first-degree intentional homicide; one count of first-degree reckless homicide; one count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide; two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment and one count of possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18, all felonies, according to court records obtained by Fox News.
It’s always something.
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@jon-nyc said in The Statement:
Yep. My link has it as a misdemeanor.
Funny, when I posted that to George all I had read was this Foxnews piece:
https://www.foxnews.com/us/charges-filed-rittenhouse-kenosha-shootings
Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley filed the charges against Kyle Rittenhouse, which include one count of first-degree intentional homicide; one count of first-degree reckless homicide; one count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide; two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment and one count of possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18, all felonies, according to court records obtained by Fox News.
Jon, you're reading Fox News and driving a Vette.
You're coming around guy, you just don't realize it yet.
Next thing you know, you'll start looking at polished cowboy boots, maybe start shaving like every 4-5 days only, get a pair of those expensive Gucci sunglasses, baseball cap with "Earn It" on the front, swiss army knife on your keychain, wallet made out of alligator hide, eat ribs for breakfast, find Ax confusing, learn to spit.We'll keep working at it. Only a matter of time.
