Ah, gotcha

When it's not criminally reckless.

Well... after watching the first witness in the PH I was satisfied that he will not be convicted of anything except some sort of possession of a firearm statute. Which will likely be a misdemeanor and can be expunged from his record after a couple years

But we don't need to gloss over the fact that his stupidity played a role in people dying (of course the victims were also behaving in a very stupid manner as well)

It may be expunged immediately since the charge was before he was 18.

what is kinda annoying is that if not for all this press... I doubt he would get tried.

So it could just be hidden from the record as the trial finishes.

Possibly... some states make you wait until 21

But we don't need to be trying to prop him up as some 2nd Amendment hero like I have heard some right wing people do... This was a sad mess all the way around

For sure.

I don't call someone a hero that I don't want to act as a role model for my kids.

I don't want my kids doing that.

1) Could have gone far more badly. 2) I don't encourage people to confront violent mobs of people with a gun, knowing what a likely outcome will be.

Unfortunately, welcome to 2020. This is why sponsors are quick to pull ads from Hannity or Carlson because the alternative is entire demographic groups just not purchasing their products anymore

It's nothing personal, just business - as the saying goes

Well, this isn't even 2020. This phenomenon has been going on for some time

happened to Laura Ingraham and Bill O'Reilly, too

On the "hero" thing, I think that goes a little far. Kyle Rittenhouse isn't a "Hero," just a kid who was in the wrong place at the wrong time and put himself in the position to where he had to shoot to defend himself.

Kyle is a fucking hero with bigger balls than anyone here, prove me wrong.

Usually heroes save people.

No, what Rittenhouse did was to save his own skin. As I said above, that could have been me when I was 16-22 years old. I was a lifeguard, I enlisted in the USMC (got chewed up and spit out), and I was a law enforcement officer. Rittenhouse was too young, and unskilled at situations like that to recognize the need for numbers and someone watching his back even while helping others. He found himself in that situation and the idiots were drawn to him by his being alone. I will say that his fight, flight, or fright instincts were spot on, and he was able to save his own ass luckily. But that doesn't mean that he was a hero. Saving your own life from a situation you shouldn't have been in isn't a heroic deed.

agreed, AntiFish

he's no more of a hero than I would be if I had to shoot to kill to defend myself

it's not heroism. it's self-preservation

I don't think that Rittenhouse should be charged with murder for defending himself in a life or death situation. But that doesn't mean that he should be held as a hero by anyone. Charge him for the misdemeanor, give him time served and release him. He is going to have to carry the weight of his decisions for the rest of his life.

Not sure why what he did was dumb - perhaps not what others would have done, but that doesn't mean it was dumb. Violent mobs were torching the businesses of his family friends. He was literally asked by a business owner he knew to help defend the premises from those who would destroy it, and a family's livelihood with it. He made the choice to risk life and limb to help those the state refuses to serve. He was then assaulted by a serial sex offender who was just released that day from a mental institution. Kyle didn't provoke him, go out asking to be attacked, etc. He was simply offering medical aid to anyone who needed it whilst knowingly risking his wellbeing to protect the livelihood of those he cared about. Maybe not the choice others woild have made. Maybe he got separated from those in his group due to inexperience or overconfidence. But I have seen nothing 'dumb'.

And yes, if my neighbourhood was being torched by violent mobs, I would certainly consider discussing with my sons of appropriate age (17 year olds can train in the army) whether they want to risk the safety to protect our community from threats, international or domestic.

Perhaps that is why I feel so strongly about this case. I have been stranded in a slum in Brazil as a 19 year old working with abused children. At 16 I was separated from my interpreter and grilled by border control while working my butt off serving orphans in Indonesia. When I look at my two little boys and think of them as young men risking their safety to help others, to then be slandered and dismissed by anyone who cares to have an opinion, my heart aches.

@Lady Georgia, I am not saying he was dumb for being there, I am not saying he was dumb for carrying. I am saying that it was dumb for him to have left the property of the business that asked for his assistance. He had good intentions, but if he had stayed on the property of that business owner I actually don't know if even the misdemeanor charge of minor in possession would have applied. Since he would have been under the supervision of a person whose property he was on and that person was over 18.

When we face the risk of danger while doing good, and then have that risk materialise into an active threat, and respond with bravery and the least force possible (shooting the *arm* of the man trying to murder him? Really? And not one shot at anyone not actively threatening his life?), you call it what you like. I think it's heroism. In the same way (though clearly not to the degree) as the American hero whose pastor convinced him pacifism was not the only right response to Nazi aggression, and proceeded to capture a whole patrol of German soldiers after storming the machine gun nest and killing only those he absolutely had to, to take the position.

@AntiFish03
Thanks for clarifying. I do agree he shouldn't have left the premises. I don't know if that was dumb, bad judgement, or bad luck.

(If he was, as I've heard suggested, travelling away with the group and then was separated after stopping to assist an injured protestor.)

They were trying to light a gas station on fire with a dumbster (that they had lit and were rolling toward the pumps) ... he darted over and put it out.

Riots and mob mentality are something that even the most veteran and well trained officers struggle with... Its fickle, and difficult to predict.

@SoonMrWick Yes I'm not sure if that was immediately before or some time earlier

I prefer dumbster spelling in that scenario

@SoonMrWick Totally dangerous for sure. It could have ended with so many more dead.

A lot is packed into 5 minutes but discussed as though it happened over the course of a day or more.

@SoonMrWick The footage I saw of him with the fire extingisher seemed to be earlier in the evening, by the light in the video, but it's hard to tell

I'm not applauding his moral ground, but his decision making process on harmful vs harmless was on point. The very second someone put their hands up (even faintly) the barrel of his gun went down.