Kyle Rittenhouse was a child when he carried a rifle across state lines to role-play as a vigilante justice officer in the streets of Kenosha. He inserted himself, fully armed, into a space of civil unrest, shot and killed two people, and injured a third.

He was charged with intentional homicide, reckless homicide, and attempted intentional homicide.

He claimed he feared for his life, in accordance with Wisconsin law that allows a person to use deadly force if they “reasonably believe that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death.”

He was just found not guilty on all charges. 

My primary wish is not necessarily that Kyle Rittenhouse had been found guilty. I wish that all the Black and Latinx young people who are sentenced to years and years in prison for youthful mistakes were extended the same leeway given to Rittenhouse. I wish that we really did have equal justice for all. This is what people miss when they say that racism is over — that facially neutral laws continue to be implemented by biased individuals and systems. 

And that means we see, again, that there is one set of rules for young white people, and another set of rules for young Black and Latinx people.

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