Rittenhouse, wearing a dark jacket with a burgundy tie and shirt, stood behind the defense table as each not guilty verdict was read. He tried to hold back tears, then sobbed and appeared to collapse forward on the table, where he was held by one of his lawyers.
Rittenhouse’s mother gasped after the final verdict was read, her head falling into her hands.
The panel of five men and seven women deliberated more than 25 hours over the past four days in a closely watched case that polarized an already divided nation. The verdict cannot be appealed.
Since the shootings on August 25, 2020, the case pitted Americans who saw Rittenhouse as an armed teen vigilante against those who viewed him as a citizen taking up arms to protect businesses from looters and rioters.
The judge praised the jury, saying he “couldn’t have asked for a better jury.”
After the verdict was announced, lead prosecutor Thomas Binger told the court, “The jury has represented our community in this trial and has spoken.”
The family of one of the victims, Anthony Huber, said in a statement “there is no accountability for the person who murdered our son.”
On a cold, sunny afternoon, crowds gathered outside the courthouse after the verdict.
“We want the nation to know the nation that you live in now isn’t the … United States that we used to live in,” said Justin Blake, uncle of Jacob Blake, whose shooting by police last summer sparked the protests where Rittenhouse showed up with his gun.
Source : cnn
