Celebrating the Rittenhouse Verdict... for America

By Kevin McGary

After LeBron’s mocking, Joy Reid’s scoffing, and insanely and discordant dysfunctional media’s howling because their scheme to demoralize Americans failed, there’s reason to celebrate.

Yes, we celebrate. We celebrate for appropriate jurisprudence. We celebrate for rejection of “mob rule.” We celebrate for a jury agreeing to uphold civil society and the rule of law. We celebrate the reaffirming of the significance of the Second Amendment. Finally, we celebrate because using this particular case illuminated and reinforced the God-given right to self-defense for Americans now and in the future, and that’s foundational to justice. Above anything else, the Rittenhouse case is about justice.

While the lunatic MSM peddled narratives about white supremacy, racism, vigilantism, and unequal justice, they completely ignored fundamental justice. When civil society breaks down and police departments are defunded, or peace officers decide to go on hiatus because local mayors advocate that mobs should be allowed to “rampage” and go “wild ‘n out,” the average citizen needs to know when and how to engage in appropriate self-defense. This Rittenhouse case helped clarify the parameters. Americans now more fully understand how we can help protect ourselves and our community if we are personally confronted and our life is put at risk. We know we can use force (even deadly force) to protect ourselves.

Knowing the parameters of self-defense is vital during perilous times when many cities across America are explicitly “defunding police,” providing “no-bail” immediate release provisions for those who commit crimes and are providing “early prisoner release” programs that flood communities with convicts who have not finished serving respective sentences. Early prisoner release programs are, in fact, at record levels. Our streets and communities are overrun with the “perfect storm” of riotous opportunists looking to agitate chaos, so the Rittenhouse verdict was significant. Indeed, it highlighted the importance of America’s Second Amendment rights and the right to self-defense, and for that reason, it is well worth celebrating!

Dishonest media blowhards seem to lament any hope of America’s experiencing unity and success, so they went into overdrive expressing racist hatred toward Rittenhouse and “Whites” in general. From the beginning, they attempted to push narratives to produce hatred and division, so they lied about Rittenhouse’s supposed ties to militia groups, racism, and “White Supremacy.” There was no evidence of any such connections during subsequent background investigations and sworn testimony during the trial. That notwithstanding, some media elements were so committed to Rittenhouse character assassinations, they created complete fabrications about him having killed two black BLM protesters. The truth: those two rioters were both white, they were both felons, and both were killed while actively trying to kill Rittenhouse – as was the third that he wounded. Testimony and video evidence proved these were acts of self-defense.
 
The lying media also wanted to assert he was an unhinged vigilante who crossed state lines fully intending to kill people. The vigilantism angle was also a complete fabrication. Court testimony proved Rittenhouse’s weapon was legal. He did not illegally bring it across state lines; he kept it in a safe in Kenosha. It so happened he worked in Kenosha and had plenty of friends and family in Kenosha, so he was already there. In all, media lies, defamation, and agitation were an attempt to undermine trust in existing self-defense laws and have Americans look askance at their Second Amendment rights and their personal ability to protect themselves fully. Fortunately, this bold attempt failed. Americans should celebrate the abject failure of the media to divide us through racist schemes and deceptions!

Media attempts at demagoguery are pretty evident when you realize they are completely silent about a similar “self-defense” acquittal of Andrew Coffee IV. On the same day that Rittenhouse received an acquittal for “self-defense,” Mr. Coffee, who was charged with killing his girlfriend and shooting at police officers, also received an acquittal for “self-defense.” A significant difference between the two cases is: Coffee is black! Since Coffee is black, there was very little media coverage; there was no outrage, no screams of racism, no charges of supremacy, and no demands for “justice!” It seems the howling media and “elites” (NBA/sports, media, entertainment moguls, etc.), believe “justice” is connoted by “race,” and the only race entitled to make claims of “self-defense” are blacks. Well, this is America. America must work hard to move past race-based “justice.” If our nation will survive, “self-defense,” like everything else, must be colorblind and must be honored.

Every Black Life Matters (EBLM) celebrates the Rittenhouse verdict for America and all Americans…This verdict is about us! As we advance, we celebrate our ability to take care of one another as we look out for all those within our communities. We celebrate our knowledge to unify around real justice, including shielding and protecting ourselves from those who look to do us harm. Self-defense is a God-given right and is foundational to human existence. As we navigate difficult times, we should recognize (all the more) that it is even more vital to our progeny and is essential to American civil society. Our only response to legitimate claims of self-defense should be cheers!

[Kevin is the president and founder of Every Black Life Matters. He is an entrepreneur, author, and public speaker. In the arena of civic engagement, Kevin serves as Chairman of the Frederick Douglass Foundation of California, and is an executive with the Douglass Leadership Institute and the Northstar Leadership Pac.] This article was originally published in "American Thinker." It is used here by permission of the author.