Thread by @DrRJKavanagh

Just because the judge in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial may in fact be a villain, do not allow the prosecutor to play the role of "tragic hero."

When Kyle Rittenhouse is acquitted, do not let the DA spin this like they fought the good fight cause they didn't.nytimes.com/2021/11/11/us/…

First, let's remember who we are dealing with. This is the Kenosha County DA's office.

The same DA's office who refused to bring charges against the police officer, Rusten Sheskey, who shot Jacob Blake in the back seven times, paralyzing him. apnews.com/article/kyle-r…

Jacob Blake is the whole reason this trial is happening and somehow the Kenosha County DA left him out of the equation.

Believe me, Michael Gravely, Kenosha County DA, does not care about Black people.

He is prosecuting Chrystul Kizer, who at 17 allegedly killed the White man who had sex-trafficked her, for first degree intentional homicide - the same charge as Rittenhouse.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2021/…

Kenosha prosecutors knew that the man who trafficked Chrystul, Randy Volar, was raping Black girls as young as 12.

In fact, in 2018, they charged him with child sex abuse, but they released him without bail, so he could continue doing what he was doing.

washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/…

Second, let's consider the actual trial. The judge has grabbed all of the headlines because of his outrageous behavior.

And his racism should be highlighted. It's an insight into how the system works nearly all of the time, but for Black people not White.
washingtonpost.com/national/as-ky…

But part of it is his outrageous behavior is good TV and it's overshadowing some of what is going on during the trial that is important.

https://twitter.com/Guinz/status/1459216913536634881?s=20

Basically, the prosecutor is not doing a good job.

One, they took just five and a half days to present their case - a double homicide and an attempted homicide, where you know the defense is going to argue a somewhat complicated self defense claim.

Two, they didn't prep their witnesses. The prosecution witnesses should not be making the defense case. One of their witnesses essentially made the defense's self defense claim for them. nytimes.com/2021/11/08/us/…

Three, everyone is up in arms about the way the judge spoke to the prosecutor. I get it and this is not a defense of the judge.

What the prosecution did tho was pretty egregious. He suggested that the defendant exercising his right to remain silent was an indication of guilt,

He also tried to admit evidence the court had excluded as prejudicial. These are also kinda basic mistakes.
Either you are stupid or you were trying to provoke a mistrial, which is what the defense suggested.

100% people should be upset with the judge but do not think the prosecution here is righteous because they are not.

Honestly, I am sure the prosecution loves the way this is playing out on TV because they get to look like the good guys.

The reality is the Kenosha County DA's office prosecutes Black people at a higher rate than almost anywhere in the country.

The Black incarceration rate in Kenosha County in 2016 was 6,079 per 100,000 population. That is 12 times the white rate. It is almost 80% higher than in Milwaukee, which is third highest among the nation’s largest metro areas.

The racial gap in incarceration is also higher in Kenosha than in Milwaukee. jsonline.com/in-depth/opini…

I could go on. There is so much to say about Wisconsin. My point here, however, is don't believe the hype. nbcnews.com/news/us-news/w…

PS. I don't really believe in heroes and villains, but systems. So I don't think the judge is a villain. The media making him one suggests he's extraordinary and he's not.