On June 26, 2008, the United States Supreme Court issued its landmark decision, District of Columbia v. Heller, ruling that the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects an individual’s right to keep and bear arms, unconnected with service in a militia.
The Second Amendment reads:
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.
In defining a well regulated Militia, writing for the Court’s majority, Justice Antonin Scalia quotes a 1939 case as follows: the Militia comprised all males physically capable of acting in concert for the common defense.
On August 25, 2020, a 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse arrived at the scene of unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after two days of protests and rioting, to protect private property. Kyle was armed with an AR-15. Rittenhouse was a militiaman acting in the common defense of his father’s city.
Later that evening, while Kyle was stand guard in front of a car dealership, he was attacked by protestors. Kyle killed two and injured one. This killing was in self-defense, which was captured on video. In November 2021, Kyle was on put on trial for these shootings, along with several other charges. Two changes were dismissed. He was found not guilty on all other charges, including the three shootings.
What should have been an open and shut case of Kyle’s innocence, turned into a polarizing media sensation. Even with the availability of the video, which showed him being attacked (kicked in the head by one, struck in the head with a skateboard by another, had a gun pointed at his head by a third) and showed him running away from his attackers, much of the media and liberal politicians portrayed Rittenhouse as a terrorist, vigilante, and murderer.
The criminal past of the two men (Huber and Rosenbaum) killed did not soften the criticism of Rittenhouse (one of them was convicted of sexual conduct with five preteen boys). In response to the verdict in the case, Governor Tony Evers of Wisconsin said in his statement, “No verdict will be able to bring back the lives of Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum…”. Evers apparently feels that these two felons who assaulted Kyle is worthy of public sympathy.
The physical attacks on Rittenhouse, the harsh criticism directed, and empathy for his assailants, demonstrates a particular loathing for this young man. There is video that should have exonerated him in the eyes of the public. The widespread disregard of the video evidence testifies to something visceral directed at Rittenhouse.
Very present in the American Left is a sneering, and, very often, hatred, of the country. From tearing down of statues of historical leaders and calls to abolish the Electoral College to renaming Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples Day and the 1619 Project, the Left is saying that the United States of America and many of its institutions are illegitimate and evil.
Kyle Rittenhouse, who is white, male, probably heterosexual, and courageous enough, even at his young age, to run toward an area of civil unrest to stand up to evil of rioting, epitomizes much of what they despise about America. He seems to channel the spirit of those in the 1770s who mutual pledged to each other their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honor to fight off the tyranny of Great Britain. Those who attack Rittenhouse, physically and rhetorically, apparently see in him the same patriotism of those who fought to found this nation, a nation they see as deeply flawed. With his semi-automatic rifle, which was willing to use to defend commercial property and himself against rioters, he embodies the Second Amendment that has always been a thorn in the side of many of those on the political left. He symbolizes the best of what America has to offer. For this, the Left hates Kyle Rittenhouse.
For over a year, Rittenhouse was abused by the legal system, which included incarceration. To say that this was disgusting grossly understates this injustice. He should have been given a medal for his heroism.