So, the night that this happened, I watched someone's livestream of the events as they unfolded. As I understand it, it was captured from multiple different angles on the street, some of these videos they used in the court case. This case is particularly frustrating for me, because I would identify myself as a liberal, but I don't think Rittenhouse was guilty of murder, and this has made me quite the Target in my friendgroup and online in liberal places.

The only thing I really think Rittenhouse was guilty of, is poor judgment--I say poor judgment because, I don't think he really should have been carrying a weapon over state lines to attend what would, inevitably, be a riot. I feel like hindsight in this case is 20/20 and it seems like it should be at least somewhat apparent that bringing a weapon into a riot is automatically putting oneself and others at a great risk. Something may happen, and something did.

However--that night a couple of things happened. The man who initially attacked him, had been released from a mental ward after a suicide attempt, was diagnosed with bipolar I believe, and was off his medications. He attacked Rittenhouse, and Rittenhouse defended himself. What ensued after that was a fight where a man pulled a gun on him, and was also shot. It seem like, from watching the videos, every person who attempted to attack him, was doing so with intent of serious bodily harm.

It's true that a black child of the same age would probably not have gotten the same kind of reception from right wing media. It's true that this case is underscored by deep seated elements of racism. However, none of that takes away from the fact that he shot in self defense, and while I get that's a really unpopular opinion among people in my political sphere, that's how I feel about it.