New Jersey social justice advocates bemoaned Friday’s acquittal by a Wisconsin jury of Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who shot and killed two people protesting the police shooting of a Black man in Kenosha in 2020, saying it is more proof of an unequal justice system.
“The verdict is shocking, but unsurprising,” said Amol Sinha, head of the ACLU-NJ. “It underscores how deeply racism is embedded in our systems, including our legal system.”
Rittenhouse, who lived across the border in Illinois, was 17 when he brought a semi-automatic rifle to a protest in Kenosha two days after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back, leaving him partially paralyzed. Some of the demonstrators had burned cars. Rittenhouse, who is white, said he was there to protect property. He shot three protesters, killing two of them. Rittenhouse claimed self-defense and the jury found him not guilty of charges of intentional homicide, reckless endangerment and lesser crimes.
Jason Williams, an assistant professor of justice studies at Montclair State University, said the verdict was “predictable unfortunately” because of the language used at the trial.
“For instance, the judge barred the prosecution from being able to contextualize them (the two men killed) as victims and yet certain witnesses were able to go on the stand and actually cast the demonstrators as rioters,” Williams said.
Sinha said it is more proof that justice in America is not carried out equally. The protesters had every right to protest but were not protected by police. And a jury “allowed a murderer to go free” in rendering its verdict.
“We clearly have two systems of justice in the United States,” he said. “One that advantages whiteness.”
The Rev. Charles Boyer, the founding director of the organization Salvation and Social Justice, agreed.
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“We continue to live in an America where armed white men can kill people who protest injustice and racism without consequence,” Boyer said. “This verdict also shows us how much compassion white people have for white youth but do not give that same compassion to similarly situated Black youth.”
Richard T. Smith, president of the New Jersey State Conference NAACP, said there is also a double standard regarding gun violence.
“On one end we speak about the gun violence issue in Black communities, and on the other a white teenager crosses state lines to murder protestors with an assault rifle, and is acquitted on all charges,” he said. “Our hearts ache for the young people begging for change, when they’ve only ever witnessed double standards and empty promises.”
Ryan Haygood, president and CEO of the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, said the verdict shows the need for the nation, and New Jersey, to do better in equalizing the justice system.
“Once again we are faced with a reminder of who we are, which is far from who we like to think we are, in America,” he said. “The cracks of structural racism in our foundation are deeply embedded and persistent, including in our racialized criminal justice system that continues to favor white Americans. As always, we must use this setback as motivation to persist in our quest for racial justice, including here in New Jersey. We have no choice if we are ever to see justice.”
Sinha agreed, saying there is little transparency or accountability in policing in New Jersey and complaining that the state’s nascent body camera law is at risk of being undermined by a “policy lobby-backed bill” that would allow officers to review camera footage before writing their initial reports. Gov. Phil Murphy conditionally vetoed the bill, but the ACLU and others say that if the Legislature concurs with Murphy’s recommended changes, the measure would still allow officers to potentially bias their reports on many encounters with the public.
“It’s easy to look at Wisconsin and say that event couldn’t happen here,” Sinha said. “But this is a nationwide epidemic … We still have a lot of work to do in New Jersey.”
