Lake Henry Prosecutor Declines Weapons Charges For Rittenhouse

Based on the video we’ve seen, Kyle Rittenhouse doesn’t appear to have done anything wrong when he shot three rioters who attacked him in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Regardless, though, he’s facing a number of charges including first degree murder. If convicted, his life as he currently knows it will be over.

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However, at least his legal team got a little good news on Tuesday.

Lake County prosecutors said that the gun Kyle Rittenhouse used in the Kenosha shooting was bought, stored and used in Wisconsin. No charges will be filed against him in Lake County.

Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, is facing charges in Wisconsin of first-degree intentional homicide, two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, first-degree reckless homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.

The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday that an extensive investigation was conducted by the Antioch Police Department.

The investigation revealed the gun used in the Kenosha shooting was purchased, stored and used in Wisconsin.

In other words, Rittenhouse won’t be facing charges in his home state of Illinois. Unfortunately, he still faces prosecution in Wisconsin. All that the prosecutors determined in this case is that they had no authority to charge Rittenhouse on a weapons charge based on one state’s laws when the weapon had never been in the state.

Unfortunately, some people will see the original headlines and assume all charges against Rittenhouse were being dropped. While I feel they should be, that doesn’t mean Kenosha prosecutors feel the same way. In fact, it’s clear they don’t. Yet far too many people are already sharing these stories and not bothering to actually read the stories.

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However, this is still good news because it means Rittenhouse’s legal team can focus their attention on just one set of charges, not two. Since there’s ample evidence that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense, it’s likely he’ll beat the murder charges as well as most of the other charges. I’m not sure about the Wisconsin weapons charge, though, because I’ve gotten some conflicting reports on that.

Regardless, it’s clear that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense, and now that he doesn’t have to worry about charges from his home state as well as in Wisconsin, attorneys can go about defending him.

Of course, let’s also remember that Rittenhouse is just the latest example of a good guy who acted appropriately being prosecuted for those actions. Right now, too many prosecutors are bending over backwards to appease the mob. They’re prosecuting Americans who are acting in what appears to be clear cases of self-defense all in an attempt to make it so the mob will devour them last.

Appeasement doesn’t work with these people. Instead, prosecutors should follow the law. That would mean no charges against either Rittenhouse or the McCloskeys, who are also falling victim to this nonsense.

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I’d love to say that Tuesday’s decision was a buck in this trend, but I can’t. It’s just far more likely that prosecutors knew there was zero charges they could file that wouldn’t be completely frivolous, so they declined. After all, just one witness saying it was his rifle, he lived in Wisconsin where the weapon was stored, and that it never came into Illinois would be enough, so it wasn’t worth the bother.

Regardless, it’s still good news for Kyle. May he have more good news down the road.

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