Rage Against the Machine has shared a statement reacting to the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict.
Rittenhouse, then 17, killed two people and injured another with an AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle during a 2020 protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Demonstrators were protesting against police violence and brutality after Kenosha police shot and partially paralyzed Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man.
In his much-publicized trial, Rittenhouse, now 18, claimed self-defense. He was acquitted on all charges Friday.
In a series of tweets reacting to the verdict, Rage asks, “What defines innocence in America?”
“Tamir Rice was executed for playing with a toy. Nobody was charged,” the post reads. “Ahmaud Arbery went jogging and was murdered in broad daylight. Rittenhouse armed himself and killed people who were fighting for racial justice. He claimed self-defense.”
“This is the settler logic of America’s founding myth: whiteness must cast itself as the victim in order to justify its violence against those resisting its oppression,” Rage continues. “Welcome to the Land of the Free, Home of the Brave.”
1/What defines innocence in America? Tamir Rice was executed for playing with a toy. Nobody was charged. Ahmaud Arbery went jogging and was murdered in broad daylight. Rittenhouse armed himself and killed people who were fighting for racial justice. He claimed self-defense. pic.twitter.com/Em0qIOgaOp
— Rage Against The Machine (@RATMofficial) November 20, 2021
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