17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse from Illinois, with an AR-15 style rifle, fatally shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and injured Gaige Grosskreutz, who were protesting at a peaceful Black Lives Matter rally in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The rally took place in late August, as hundreds of people were protesting the shooting of 29-year-old unarmed black man, Jacob Blake.

According to authorities, Rittenhouse traveled across state lines, illegally obtained a gun from his friend, then traveled to Wisconsin with a group of counter-protesters, claiming they were there to defend property. Hours into the protest, things had escalated and Rittenhouse had shot two people in the back and injured another. 

The following day in Antioch, Illinois, Rittenhouse turned himself in, putting himself into custody and charged with first-degree intentional homicide. However, on Friday, November 20, 2020, he was released on a $2 million bail with assistance from child star Ricky Schroder and Michael Lindell, the CEO of My Pillow. 

The money came from the FightBack foundation, an organization created by Rittenhouse’s attorney John Pierce to help pay the legal costs. One of Rittenhouse’s attorneys, Lin Wood, had stated via Twitter that over 11,000 people had donated a total of $605,550 to GiveSendGo, a Christian fundraising platform, to help pay for Rittenhouse’s legal funds. Although, GiveSendGo claimed that only $390,000 was raised for Rittenhouse. Wood says the money is to “bring lawsuits to stop lies and smears of the radical left”.

Schroder told the New York Post, “This was Kyle’s life being destroyed. This is his freedom at risk. It infuriated me to see an innocent 17-year-old young man being tried and found guilty before trial.” His response was ridiculous, considering the fact that Rittenhouse is certainly not innocent, as he killed 2 people out in the open street, and there are videos to prove it.  

Rittenhouse’s $2 million bail was completely outrageous. Some claim it was “self-defense”, but the victims were shot in the back. It does not make sense because he would’ve had no need to defend himself if someone was facing in the other direction, away from him.  

This all relates back to white privilege in the US. Kyle Rittenhouse murdered two people in the middle of the street and gets to walk freely, yet a countless number of black people are killed by police because it “looked like” they were reaching for a weapon, or they “looked suspicious”.

People calling Rittenhouse a hero would quickly turn and label him a thug, if he were to be African American, Latino, etc. Even some right-leaning senators posted on Twitter praising Kyle’s release, claiming that he was a “true American hero”. Donald Trump Jr. claims that the murder of 2 people was just a mistake and that everyone does stupid things as a teenager. However, most would consider stupid things at the age of 17 drinking or smoking, and not shooting people in the back at a social justice rally with an AR-15 style rifle. 

This unfortunate event is an act of terrorism: the unlawful use of violence and intimidation. Some people do not think twice about labeling Muslims as terrorists, but what these people don’t realize is that acts of terrorism are coming from its own citizens. Some of the biggest threats to the US are people like Rittenhouse. It is no question that Kyle Rittenhouse is in fact a terrorist, and needs to face the consequences. 

The protest in Kenosha was a peaceful gathering for Black Lives Matter supporters in honor of Jacob Blake, one of many black people who has suffered from police brutality. Lots of people, however, claim “blue lives matter”, only in order to oppose the BLM movement. Blue lives don’t actually exist since people aren’t born a cop; black people are born with their skin color. White privilege in the US exists, or else a 17-year-old white male wouldn’t be able to walk the streets after committing a double homicide.

It is saddening that America is at the point in history where a white supremacist is being celebrated.