NEWS

Entertainment industry reacts to Kyle Rittenhouse being acquitted: “No Justice. None”

The entertainment world has reacted to the news that Kyle Rittenhouse has been acquitted of first-degree murder and four other felonies.

The 18-year-old shot and killed two men during a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year, injuring another.

Yesterday (November 19), he was found not guilty to all five charges in his case, including first-degree murder and endangerment of safety.

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The trial was widely-publicised across the world and led to discussions about gun laws in the United States. Many from the entertainment world have taken to social media to share their outrage at the trial’s verdict.

“Systemic oppression is evil and destroys the world,” Lady Gaga tweeted in response to the not guilty verdict.

Destiny’s Child‘s Michelle Williams simply tweeted that she was “not surprised” at the verdict, while The Roots‘ Questlove told his followers to “Stay Home. Stay Safe.”

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Others to share their opinions on the trial’s verdict included filmmaker Ava DuVernay, who shared a message from the parents of those killed by Rittenhouse.

She tweeted: “John Huber and Karen Bloom, parents of murderer #KyleRittenhouse’s victim Anthony Huber: the verdict ‘sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence, and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people in the street.”’

Actor George Takei, meanwhile, wrote: “Justice denied is a body blow to our national psyche. On trial was not only a killer, but a system that continues to kill.

“Today that system defeated true justice, once again. But mark these words: We will never stop fighting for what is right and just.”

“I weep for this country,” singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles wrote: “For that boy taught hateful things. For the victims and their families. For the system that protects the wrong people. For weapons that spread like the virus they are, infecting, poisoning, killing. For the message this moment sends. No Justice. None.”

“#kylerittenhouse found not guilty tho we SAW HIM kill two,” Bette Midler wrote. “Fundamentally stupid, I predict he will go on to a big career on #Fox and in #RadicalRightWing circles, which counts as a plus with them. A tragic, tragic day for decent, THINKING, feeling, ethical people everywhere.”

See a range of reactions to the verdict below:

Protests have begun to spread across the United States in the wake of the not guilty verdict being cast in Rittenhouse’s trial.

As The Guardian reports, there was unrest overnight in Portland, Oregon, with police declaring a riot in the city centre following “violent, destructive behaviour by a significant part of the crowd”.