US Jury Finds Teen Not Guilty of Murder
2021-11-20
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1An American teenager on trial for murder in Wisconsin was found not guilty Friday of all charges related to the shooting deaths of two men and the wounding of another.
2Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and injured Gaige Grosskreutz on August 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
3Rittenhouse shot the men with a semi-automatic weapon.
4The shootings took place during street protests and property destruction over police violence against Black people in the summer of 2020.
5The teenager is white. Those he shot also were white.
6A jury of 12 men and women found Rittenhouse not guilty of five charges including homicide, or murder, attempted homicide and reckless endangering.
7Government lawyers told the jury that Rittenhouse had gone looking for trouble that night.
8They said he had created a dangerous situation by pointing his weapon at protestors.
9And, they noted that he showed no remorse over the killings.
10The defense said that Rittenhouse had been repeatedly attacked and had shot the men in fear for his life.
11They said he had been in Kenosha to protect private property after several nights of unrest in the town south of the city of Milwaukee.
12The unrest followed the police shooting of a Black man named Jacob Blake.
13Rittenhouse said, "I did what I had to do to stop the person who was attacking me."
14Some of the videos shot by people in the area appeared to support his claim of self-defense.
15Wisconsin law says a person can use deadly force to defend himself if he "reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself."
16After the decision, the parents of Huber who was shot and killed, Karen Bloom and John Huber spoke to the press.
17They said the outcome "sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence, and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people in the street."
18Rittenhouse was 17 when the events took place in Kenosha.
19His home is in nearby Antioch, Illinois.
20The case was one of three trials in the United States that showed the division over race in the country.
21In the American state of Georgia, three white men are on trial in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man.
22And a trial is taking place in Virginia over the deadly gathering of white supremacists in Charlottesville in 2017.
23Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, who is Black and a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, denounced the outcome of the Rittenhouse trial.
24She said, "We have seen so many black and brown youth killed, only to be put on trial posthumously, while the innocence of Kyle Rittenhouse was virtually demanded by the judge."
25Former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a Republican, praised the verdict.
26He wrote on Twitter, "All of us who knew what actually happened in Kenosha last year assumed this would be the verdict. Thankfully, the jury thought the same."
27Meanwhile, Democratic Governor Tony Evers called for calm.
28Last week, he announced that 500 National Guard members stood ready in case of trouble after the verdict.
29I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.
1An American teenager on trial for murder in Wisconsin was found not guilty Friday of all charges related to the shooting deaths of two men and the wounding of another. 2Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and injured Gaige Grosskreutz on August 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. 3Rittenhouse shot the men with a semi-automatic weapon. The shootings took place during street protests and property destruction over police violence against Black people in the summer of 2020. The teenager is white. Those he shot also were white. 4The verdict 5A jury of 12 men and women found Rittenhouse not guilty of five charges including homicide, or murder, attempted homicide and reckless endangering. 6Government lawyers told the jury that Rittenhouse had gone looking for trouble that night. They said he had created a dangerous situation by pointing his weapon at protestors. And, they noted that he showed no remorse over the killings. 7The defense said that Rittenhouse had been repeatedly attacked and had shot the men in fear for his life. They said he had been in Kenosha to protect private property after several nights of unrest in the town south of the city of Milwaukee. The unrest followed the police shooting of a Black man named Jacob Blake. 8Rittenhouse said, "I did what I had to do to stop the person who was attacking me." Some of the videos shot by people in the area appeared to support his claim of self-defense. Wisconsin law says a person can use deadly force to defend himself if he "reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself." 9After the decision, the parents of Huber who was shot and killed, Karen Bloom and John Huber spoke to the press. They said the outcome "sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence, and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people in the street." 10Rittenhouse was 17 when the events took place in Kenosha. His home is in nearby Antioch, Illinois. 11The case was one of three trials in the United States that showed the division over race in the country. In the American state of Georgia, three white men are on trial in the killing of Ahmaud Arbery, a Black man. And a trial is taking place in Virginia over the deadly gathering of white supremacists in Charlottesville in 2017. 12Wisconsin Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes, who is Black and a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate, denounced the outcome of the Rittenhouse trial. 13She said, "We have seen so many black and brown youth killed, only to be put on trial posthumously, while the innocence of Kyle Rittenhouse was virtually demanded by the judge." 14Former Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, a Republican, praised the verdict. He wrote on Twitter, "All of us who knew what actually happened in Kenosha last year assumed this would be the verdict. Thankfully, the jury thought the same." 15Meanwhile, Democratic Governor Tony Evers called for calm. Last week, he announced that 500 National Guard members stood ready in case of trouble after the verdict. 16I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. 17Hai Do wrote this report for VOA Learning English with additional reporting from the Associated Press and Reuters. Mario Ritter was the editor. 18____________________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20semi-automatic -n. able to fire bullets one after the other quickly but not automatically 21reckless -adj. not showing the correct concern about the possible bad results of your actions 22remorse -n. a feeling of being sorry for doing something bad or wrong in the past; a feeling of guilt 23imminent -adj. happening very soon 24virtually -adv. very nearly; almost completely 25assume -v. to think that something is true or probably true without knowing that it is true 26verdict -n. the decision given by a jury at a trial 27We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.