Armed participants walk at a Proud Boys rally with other right-wing protesters in September 2020 in Portland, Ore. Far-right groups celebrated the ruling during the Rittenhouse trial.
John Locher / AP
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John Locher / AP
Armed participants walk at a Proud Boys rally with other right-wing protesters in September 2020 in Portland, Ore. Far-right groups celebrated the ruling during the Rittenhouse trial.
John Locher / AP
In the following minutes The jury acquitted 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse is, by all accounts, glowing in the social media spaces where far-right extremists gather.
In a Telegram channel for the far-right Proud Boys, several people said they had taken the day off work to await the verdict. “There is still opportunity for this country,” one person wrote. In another channel, a member stated that political violence must continue. “The left wing won’t stop until their bodies are stacked like wooden ropes,” he wrote.
Rittenhouse herself is not known to be a member of an extremist group. But the test, from the very beginning became cause and gather cries among gun-rights conservatives, has been particularly alarming for extremism researchers.
As it comes against the backdrop of an increasingly polarized nation, experts in far-right movements say opportunists have found a growing audience for their violent message aimed at the left. . Now that a grand jury has found that Rittenhouse acted in self-defence, those concerns are raising questions about whether it could draw others to participate in political violence.
“This could be construed on the right as a kind of license to do this kind of thing, or to look for an alternative in this way, believing there’s a chance they won’t face the consequences,” says Jared. serious.” Holt, a resident fellow at the Digital Forensic Research Laboratory at the Atlantic Council. “I worry that that might be interpreted by some as proof of concept that you can actually go out and find a ‘self-defense situation’, and you’ll be cheered on like a hero. for it.”
Holt said the ruling also raises questions about whether far-right extremists might be more visible at public protests.
“Broadly speaking, the far right is a bit reluctant to come out and deal with things directly, especially on a larger national scale or on issues that attract a lot of national attention,” he said. he said. “But this could change that dynamic.”
Experts admit that it is too early to know how the ruling could change the dynamics at rallies and demonstrations, or whether it will spur more right-wing activists to bring guns to rallies. that or not. But for at least one far-left activist advocating the use of guns in self-defense, that risk seems no different from what she says she and other leftists have faced.
“Extremist [right-wing] The groups felt they had a license to do this, said Bianca Wright, who is affiliated with the Puget Sound Socialist Rifle Association. increase.”
