A protester raises his fist as he marches down the street during a protest against Kyle Rittenhouse’s not guilty verdict near the Barclays Center in New York City on Friday.
Yuki Iwamura / AFP via Getty Images
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Yuki Iwamura / AFP via Getty Images
A protester raises his fist as he marches down the street during a protest against Kyle Rittenhouse’s not guilty verdict near the Barclays Center in New York City on Friday.
Yuki Iwamura / AFP via Getty Images
Following Kyle Rittenhouse’s ruling, protests broke out in several cities around the country.
Rittenhouse is acquit on Friday of all charges related to the 2020 shooting during unrest in Kenosha, Wis., related to the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man earlier. Rittenhouse fatally shot two men and wounded another after traveling from his home state of Illinois with an assault rifle to Kenosha; he shot dead Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 26. His lawyers argued that he acted in his own defense.
The incident caused a storm of media attention and strong and mixed opinions.
After the verdict was read, outrage and, for some, celebration followed outside the courthouse where protesters had gathered throughout the trial, according to Kenosha News.
On Friday night, protests broke out in several cities around the country. Authorities in Portland, Ore., call an incident near the Multnomah County Justice Center as a riot and warned all present to leave the area or risk violence. The Portland Police Office said a “significant portion of the crowd” was engaging in “violent, vandalism” including breaking windows and throwing objects at officers present at the scene.
About 200 protesters gathered that night in the downtown Portland area, the local store KOIN report. One person was arrested, but in connection with an unpaid order, according to the agency. Another person receives a wanted criminal warrant; Police said others who were hit by their cars had received citations and warnings. According to reports, most of the crowd had dissipated by 11 p.m. that evening.
In Chicago, between 60 and 100 protesters met near Federal Plaza to march downtown to Michigan Avenue and Madison Street before they were stopped by police, CBS Chicago report. The store also reported that the robberies that took place at several stores in the area were not proven to be linked to any of the protests, and police have confirmed that the looting claims they received be not true.
The Socialist and Liberation Party organized Friday’s protest in Chicago, according to Chicago Sun-Times. The protesters are said to be planning to attend another rally, again at Federal Plaza, on Saturday night.
Similar scenes occurred in New York City and California. About 200 people met near the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to protest Rittenhouse’s acquittal, New York Daily News report. The group traveled to the Brooklyn Bridge without being arrested, but another protest in Queens ended with five men being arrested, according to the outlet.
And in California, protesters gathered in Oakland, City of San Diego and Los Angeles.
