Father, do not let us live in fear. Help us to make no provision for the enemy to attack and give our nation wisdom and discernment.

According to Breitbart, “Kyle Rittenhouse’s attorney Mark Richards says he has stopped using his phone after being inundated with death threats.

View Comments (2)

“Everybody in this case, and when I say that, I mean prosecution, defense – to me it’s scary how many death threats we’ve had,” Richards stated at a press conference after court Friday, following the jury’s five-count not guilty verdict.

“You know, I was answering my phone on the way back from court in Kenosha… after the third death threat, I quit answering the phone,” he added.

Watch

The defense attorney has begun using his wife’s phone, though he told Insider her number has also been on the receiving end of threatening calls.

“I’m going through my emails, there are threatening emails too,” Richards added.

Richards’ client Rittenhouse stood trial for killing two and wounding one during the August 25, 2020, Black Lives Matter riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse had faced two murder charges, one attempted murder charge, and two charges of reckless endangerment before Friday’s acquittal, per previous reporting by Breitbart News.  . . .

Breitbart News’s Joel Pollak previously reported:

The defense argued that Rittenhouse had acted in self-defense, in reasonable fear of imminent death or grievous bodily harm.

In addition, the defense had repeatedly argued for a mistrial. During the trial itself, the defense said that the prosecution had infringed on Rittenhouse’s Fifth Amendment rights by commenting on his post-arrest silence. The prosecutor also mentioned evidence that the judge had specifically ruled out of the trial. Judge Bruce Schroeder agreed, and admonished the prosecutor, but allowed the trial to continue, saying he would rule on the motion to dismiss later. Later, after the trial, while the jury deliberated, the defense filed another motion to dismiss, after the prosecution used a high-definition version of a video of events that the defense had never seen; the defense had only had access to a lower-definition version of the same footage.

In the wake of numerous death threats following the verdict, Richards hopes people can communicate civilly. . . .

According to Washington Times, "

Virginia Lt. Gov.-elect Winsome Sears said Sunday that it is time to “stop picking at” America’s racial scabs after a jury returned a verdict of not guilty against Kyle Rittenhouse, who was accused of murder for fatally shooting two men and injuring a third during racial justice riots last year in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Mrs. Sears, a conservative Republican who is the first Black woman to win a statewide election in Virginia, called for healing and for politicians and the news media to stop pitting Americans against each other.

“The media are complicit in this,” Mrs. Sears said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” . . .

Anger spilled into the streets of Portland, Oregon, where protesters hurled “urine, alcoholic beverages, water bottles and batteries” at police officers and vandalized property, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.

The sheriff’s office declared it a riot after the gate to the Justice Center detention area was damaged.

For his part, Mr. Biden told reporters: “I stand by what the jury has concluded.” He later released a statement saying he is committed “to do everything in my power to ensure that every American is treated equally, with fairness and dignity, under the law.” . . .

Vice President Kamala Harris said the “verdict speaks for itself.”

“I’ve spent a majority of my career working to make our criminal justice system more equitable,” Ms. Harris tweeted. “It’s clear, there’s still a lot more work to do.”

Acquitted on Friday, Mr. Rittenhouse had testified that he fired his rifle in self-defense during an August 2020 riot in Kenosha that erupted after a White police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, when police responded to a 911 call for a domestic disturbance. Mr. Blake was left paralyzed.

Mr. Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, had traveled from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to the protests to protect businesses. He was armed with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle.

He shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 27. Mr. Rittenhouse is White, like the men he shot.

Rosenbaum chased Mr. Rittenhouse and grabbed for the rifle when Mr. Rittenhouse shot him, according to evidence at the trial. . . .

The case became a flashpoint in an emotional debate over race and gun rights. The 18-year-old has been hailed as a hero by some on the right and demonized as a wayward vigilante by some on the left.

Mr. Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all five charges brought against him.

NAACP President Derrick Johnson said Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation” that it is “hard to reconcile the verdict with the experience that many African Americans have faced over several decades.” . . .

In Washington, reaction split along party lines as to whether the Rittenhouse verdict was a triumph of justice or White supremacy.

On the Republican side, some of the party’s outspoken members cheered Mr. Rittenhouse walking out of the courtroom as a free man.

“Those who help, protect, and defend are the good guys,” tweeted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Georgia Republican. “Kyle is one of the good ones.” . . .

Democrats saw the verdict as confirmation of America’s systemic racism.

Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri, a Black Lives Matter activist, said the verdict was “White supremacy in action.” . . .

Rep. Adriano Espaillat of New York said Mr. Rittenhouse “is living proof that White tears can still forestall justice.”

Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke, a Democrat running for governor in Texas, said the Rittenhouse case shows why “we should not allow our fellow Americans to own and use weapons that were originally designed for battlefield use.” . . .

Other Democrats were less critical.

“I can’t imagine the pain the families have gone through that have lost loved ones in this instance,” Sen. John Tester of Montana, said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “Nonetheless, I think we need to respect what the jury has done here and respect the decision.”

Mrs. Sears agreed. Saying America needs to turn the page, she said she takes inspiration from “a Jewish politician, King David” and recited Psalm 133: “How good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live together in peace and harmony.’’ . . .

Comment your thoughts on this trial!

(Excerpt from Breitbart and Washington Times. Photo by Getty Images.)