Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has activated the National Guard as the state prepares for a turbulent reaction to the verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.
Without mentioning Rittenhouse by name, Evers announced Saturday that approximately 500 Wisconsin Army National Guard troops would report for state active duty to “support local partners in ensuring public safety in conjunction with hundreds of officers from volunteering law enforcement agencies.”
“We continue to be in close contact with our partners at the local level to ensure the state provides support and resources to help keep the Kenosha community and greater area safe,” Evers said. “The Kenosha community has been strong, resilient, and has come together through incredibly difficult times these past two years, and that healing is still ongoing. I urge folks who are otherwise not from the area to please respect the community by reconsidering any plans to travel there and encourage those who might choose to assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights to do so safely and peacefully.”
RITTENHOUSE JUDGE SIGNALS HE MAY ‘INFORM THE JURY’ OF NARROW GUN LAW EXEMPTIONS
Members of the Wisconsin National Guard will be in standby status outside Kenosha, Wisconsin, to respond to requests from local authorities, Evers’s statement said. Troops “may not be used to impede the ability of people to peacefully protest or impede the ability of the media to report,” the release added.
Officials are preparing for the possibility of riots in reaction to a verdict in the trial of Rittenhouse, who has pleaded not guilty to seven charges. The defense for Rittenhouse rested Thursday, and jurors have since been preparing for deliberation.
Some critics have employed racial language to impugn Rittenhouse’s emotional testimony in his own defense, with President Joe Biden calling the teenager a “white supremacist.” Liberal pundits have mocked and jeered at Rittenhouse’s courtroom sobbing, saying that his display of emotion amounted to “crocodile tears,” among other claims.
Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the August 2020 incident but now is 18, stands accused of killing Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and grievously injuring Gaige Grosskreutz after riots erupted in Kenosha in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
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The judge in the case signaled Friday he may “inform the jury” of narrow gun law exemptions after the defense sought acquittal for a misdemeanor charge in the case.
Rittenhouse faces life in prison if convicted.
