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Kyle Rittenhouse (right) with Fox News presenter Tucker Carlson
Photo: Fox News / AP
Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot two people during the Black Lives Matter protests in Kenosha, gave an interview after his controversial acquittal.
The case had nothing to do with racism, the 18-year-old told Fox News.
"It was about the right to self-defense".
Rittenhouse drove to Kenosha, Wisconsin in August 2020, and joined armed men there who said they wanted to protect businesses from looting.
Protests against racism and police violence broke out in the city after a white police officer shot African American Jacob Blake several times in the back.
In an altercation during the protests, Rittenhouse shot dead two men and seriously injured a third.
During the trial, the prosecutor described the defendant as a "would-be soldier" who was looking for trouble that night.
A jury ruled last week that Rittenhouse was innocent.
They followed his argument that he had defended himself.
He probably benefited from the fact that the witness he shot admitted that he first aimed a gun at Rittenhouse.
Rittenhouse and the men he shot are white.
"I think you got the right verdict, because in Wisconsin it wasn't Kyle Rittenhouse that was on trial, it was the right to self-defense," the shooter said on television.
If he had been convicted "no one would have the privilege to defend his life against attackers any more".
Wisconsin law liberally interprets the right to self-defense.
If you are attacked, you can defend yourself with a weapon if you fear that you will be killed or seriously injured.
In the bar with the »Proud Boys«
Before the trial, Rittenhouse had been photographed in a bar with men who apparently belonged to the right-wing extremist »Proud Boys«.
However, his lawyers denied that the young man was a "white supremacist".
Rittenhouse himself said in an interview: »I am not a racist person.
I support the BLM movement, I support peaceful demonstrations. «He indicates that he may want to bring charges against defamation.
After his arrest, Rittenhouse had become a figurehead of the right-wing camp: the bail of two million dollars was quickly collected through donations, and his supporters included the actor and former child star Ricky Schroder ("The Little Lord").
The then President Donald Trump also stood behind Rittenhouse: He was "in great trouble" because demonstrators had "violently attacked" him, Trump said at the time.
"He would probably have been killed."
bbr / AP
