Trump defends accused Kenosha gunman, saying his life was likely in danger

By Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal

 

U.S. President Donald Trump responds to questions from members of the news media during a news conference at the White House in Washington, U.S., August 31, 2020. REUTERS/Leah Millis

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Monday sided with a 17-year old charged with killing two people during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, saying the accused gunman was trying to get away and would have been killed by demonstrators if he had not opened fire.

 

Trump on Tuesday will visit Kenosha, the site of protests against police brutality and racism since Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, was shot seven times by police on Aug. 23 and left paralyzed.

 

On the third night of protests, Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, shot three protesters, two fatally, with an assault rifle.

 

"He was trying to get away from them ... And then he fell and then they very violently attacked him," Trump said at a briefing. "I guess he was in very big trouble ... He probably would have been killed."

 

Rittenhouse has been charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree homicide and one count of attempted homicide, and his lawyer has said he plans to argue self-defense.

 

The Republican president, who has made law and order a main theme of his re-election campaign, declined to condemn violent acts by his supporters and railed against what he called rioting and anarchy carried out by "left-wing" protesters.

 

Former Democratic Vice President Joe Biden, Trump's opponent in the Nov. 3 election, accused the president of stoking violence with his rhetoric, while insisting that rioters and looters be prosecuted.

 

"Tonight, the president declined to rebuke violence. He wouldn't even repudiate one of his supporters who is charged with murder because of his attacks on others. He is too weak, too scared of the hatred he has stirred to put an end to it," Biden said in a statement.

 

Trump suggested violence would increase if Biden won and accused the former vice president of surrendering to a left-wing mob. "In America, we will never surrender to mob rule, because if the mob rules, democracy is indeed dead," Trump said.

 

The shooting of Blake, 29, in front of three of his children in Kenosha, a predominantly white city of about 100,000 people on Lake Michigan, has triggered a fresh wave of nationwide protests.

 

The summer of protests ignited after video footage showed a Minneapolis police officer kneeling on the neck of a Black man, George Floyd, for nearly nine minutes. Floyd later died, and the since-fired officer has been charged with murder.

 

White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany told reporters that Trump planned to survey the damage in Kenosha and meet with business owners, shrugging off calls by some state and local leaders for him to forgo the visit.

 

Trump said he would not meet with Blake's family.

 

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Andrea Shalal; additional reporting by Susan Heavey and; Tim Ahmann; editing by Cynthia Osterman)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-09-01

 

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If the kid was about to get attacked and potentially killed , you can forgive him for shooting in self defence 

All the evidence I have seen shows Kyle acted in self defence. No idea where people get the terrorist murderer white supremacist gun smuggler narrative from, was it from Congresswoman Pressley's twitter feed? I know she claimed this without a shred of evidence. Kyle's lawyer, Lin Wood of Covington fake news MAGA kid fame, is suing all and sundry for defamation for making up a very silly and false narrative. 

 People should probably wait for more evidence and clarity before rushing to defame a minor.

The accused murderer is a white nationalist vigilante and an American president defends him. How low can he go? Always lower.

You can be a full on far right wing domestic terrorist but if you love 45 he loves you back. 

Edited September 1, 20205 yr by Jingthing

1 minute ago, Jingthing said:

The accused murderer is a white nationalist vigilante and an American president defends him. How low can he go? Always lower.

That is irrelevant , the only relevant thing was whether he acted in self defence or not .

12 minutes ago, webfact said:

Rittenhouse has been charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree homicide and one count of attempted homicide, and his lawyer has said he plans to argue self-defense.

Self defense did he not watch the video ? Its out there for everyone to see and what you see is a 17 yr old bent on killing a protestor which he does the first time from distance then calling someone to tell them he just killed a person . The next two where from close range as they backed away as he pointed the rifle at them .

After as he is walking sown the road with hands up and someone screaming to the Police that he just killed people they let him keep walking and go home just shows how much they cared about what had happened ZERO .

Edited September 1, 20205 yr by keith101

Go to rob a bank and you claim self defence for shooting a guard who tried to take you down.

 

dont think thats gonna work.

 

I do note trump condemns the protests but not the protests from his supporters, for them he looks to appease them.

1 minute ago, Sujo said:

Go to rob a bank and you claim self defence for shooting a guard who tried to take you down.

 

dont think thats gonna work.

 

 

It wouldnt, but the kid didnt rob a bank  and shoot a security guard 

15 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

That is irrelevant , the only relevant thing was whether he acted in self defence or not .

 

You're kinda forgetting the part where, apart from anything else, he was in illegal possession of a gun/rifle as a minor AND out at night in violation of curfew.  His whole presence there was illegal, and he was committing a criminal offense before anything at all happened with him.

 

Plus, AFAIK, it's not known what exactly led to the initial confrontation with this guy in the first place.  Lots of white militia were out with guns that night, but they weren't all being chased by crowds... Something happened at the outset prior to the first shooting.

 

Let's also remember, the first person the teenager fatally shot was NOT armed with a gun or a knife at all...  According to the videos, someone else unknown nearby fired a gun into the air (not at the teenager), and he responded by shooting the man who was chasing him.... who wasn't any kind of lethal threat.

 

 

 

Edited September 1, 20205 yr by TallGuyJohninBKK

Trump:

 

--friend of armed white militias and their violence

 

--enemy of protesters for equal rights/social justice, and the rule of law.

11 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

It wouldnt, but the kid didnt rob a bank  and shoot a security guard 

He was illegally breaking curfew, illegally carrying a gun, across state lines. shot someone then shot others who tried to stop him.

 

not gonna work

19 minutes ago, TopDeadSenter said:

All the evidence I have seen shows Kyle acted in self defence. No idea where people get the terrorist murderer white supremacist gun smuggler narrative from, was it from Congresswoman Pressley's twitter feed? I know she claimed this without a shred of evidence. Kyle's lawyer, Lin Wood of Covington fake news MAGA kid fame, is suing all and sundry for defamation for making up a very silly and false narrative. 

 People should probably wait for more evidence and clarity before rushing to defame a minor.

Perhaps Biden should wait for more evidence as he's latching onto this story in desperation to remain relevant. 

 

What Biden says is irrelevant anyway. If he wins, Kamala will be president as he wouldn't last a month in the Oval Office. He's calling Trump weak, but he's afraid to come out of his bunker and even too scared to debate Trump. He's even getting Pelosi to make excuses for him.

 

 

1 minute ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Trump:

 

--friend of armed white militias and their violence

 

--enemy of protesters for equal rights/social justice, and the rule of law.

On the other hand, Trump doesnt agree with violent protestors who are systematically burning down the USA  , and he sympathizes with people trying to stop them ?

3 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Trump:

 

--friend of armed white militias and their violence

 

--enemy of protesters for equal rights/social justice, and the rule of law.

Thats it in a nutshell.

Just now, CorpusChristie said:

On the other hand, Trump doesnt agree with violent protestors who are systematically burning down the USA  , and he sympathizes with people trying to stop them ?

The violence doesnt matter to trump, he doesnt like peaceful protestors either, the bible photoshoot proves that.

1 minute ago, Sujo said:

He was illegally breaking curfew, illegally carrying a gun, across state lines. shot someone then shot others who tried to stop him.

 

not gonna work

Charge him with those offenses then (along with all the other people who were out breaking the curfew)

Let the Jury decide whether it was murder or self defence 

22 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

That is irrelevant , the only relevant thing was whether he acted in self defence or not .

I think we'll find that out during the course of the trial. Conflicting reports on what happened. But what JingThing said is still very relevant. It shows that Trump will gladly condemn the black lives matter protestors, and try to blur the lines between peaceful protestors and trouble makers... But when it comes to his supporters he will call them great Americans and jump to their defense in the same situation. He'll encourage people to go out and put themselves in these situations if it benefits him. 

15 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

 and he sympathizes with people trying to stop them ?

 

You mean killing and attacking them by illegally taking the law into their own hands.

 

5 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

You mean killing and attacking them by illegally taking the law into their own hands.

 

If he was defending himself, then his actions were legal

39 minutes ago, webfact said:

"He was trying to get away from them ... And then he fell and then they very violently attacked him," Trump said at a briefing. "I guess he was in very big trouble ... He probably would have been killed."

From the video I've seen...that would appear to be the case. I assume using lethal force in self-defense when one believes their life is at risk is still the law, even in Democrat run cities and states.

15 minutes ago, Sujo said:

The violence doesnt matter to trump, he doesnt like peaceful protestors either, the bible photoshoot proves that.

There were violent protests going on outside which caused Trump to go into his bunker ,they werent peaceful demonstrations 

18 minutes ago, JensenZ said:

Perhaps Biden should wait for more evidence as he's latching onto this story in desperation to remain relevant. 

 

What Biden says is irrelevant anyway. If he wins, Kamala will be president as he wouldn't last a month in the Oval Office. He's calling Trump weak, but he's afraid to come out of his bunker and even too scared to debate Trump. He's even getting Pelosi to make excuses for him.

 

 

Biden should wait for evidence, but Trump is free to say whatever he likes. Sure mate.

20 minutes ago, CorpusChristie said:

On the other hand, Trump doesnt agree with violent protestors who are systematically burning down the USA  , and he sympathizes with people trying to stop them ?

That's right. The rioters are a few people making a lot of noise. There is absolutely no way to reason with these people. They are just waiting for any excuse to riot, loot and burn. Trying to appeal to them (heal them as some suggest) is a waste of time. You cannot reason with human trash.

Edited September 1, 20205 yr by JensenZ

15 hours ago, CorpusChristie said:

If he was defending himself, then his actions were legal

 

Not with an illegal weapon he used to kill others.

 

He had no legal right to be there. He had no legal right to be carrying a rifle in public.

 

Had he been following the law, none of this would have happened in the first place.

 

Edited September 1, 20205 yr by TallGuyJohninBKK

1 minute ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Not with an illegal weapon he used to kill others.

 

Is that the law ?

People can only defend themselves if they legally have a weapon ?

If that is the law, then this kid is guilty .

Is that the law ?

1 minute ago, stevenl said:

Biden should wait for evidence, but Trump is free to say whatever he likes. Sure mate.

I'd rather not hear from a candidate cowering in his bunker.  Who do you think has more evidence? Trump or Biden?

14 minutes ago, Pattaya Spotter said:

From the video I've seen...that would appear to be the case. I assume using lethal force in self-defense when one believes their life is at risk is still the law, even in Democrat run cities and states.

So he think to go ice cream bar to watch what people are doing , rifle whit him! So he never think to use gun!? Nobody carry gun if not think it's not needed! What was state of mind! Mean much about self defence part!

Edited September 1, 20205 yr by 2 is 1

5 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Not with an illegal weapon he used to kill others.

 

He had no legal right to be there. He had no legal right to be carrying a rifle in public.

 

Had he been following the law, none of this would have happened in the first place.

 

It doesn't matter too much about legalities when your life is on the line. What he should have or could have done is also irrelevant.

A pres who divides people and supports criminals and thugs.   Done it all his life