Regardless of the outcome of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, there is a very real possibility that violence will descend upon the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, and possibly much further as well.
Rittenhouse shot and killed two people and wounded another after traveling from his home in neighboring Illinois with his AR-15, to engage in a riot that had already been taking place in Kenosha. His trial has split the nation down the center, (unsurprisingly), and now threatens to foment a repeat of the situation that got Rittenhouse into trouble in the first place.
In the heart of downtown, small-business owners were prepared for the worst, fearing protesters, crime and vandalism may return regardless of the outcome in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.
As closing arguments got underway Monday, residents and business owners braced for a possible repeat of August 2020 when demonstrators took to the streets after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a black resident, leaving him partially paralyzed.
And there wasn’t going to be any clear winner in any of this.
“No matter which way the verdict goes, somebody is going to be upset,” said Lyna Postuchow, owner of A Summer’s Garden, a floral shop. “You always have to be ready because you don’t know what’s going to happen, but we hope cooler minds prevail.”
Rittenhouse’s attorneys have attempted to prove that the young man, who was a teen at the time of the shooting, was acting in self defense when he pulled the trigger.
The jury’s deliberation will stretch into midweek…at the very least.
