Today a majority white jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse, a white teenager who traveled to Kenosha, WI and shot and killed two people who were present at protests of the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse was one of the many armed vigilantes patrolling the streets of Kenosha in opposition to racial justice protestors, and was welcomed by the police despite openly carrying an assault rifle. These events only deepen our conviction that there is no justice to be found in a criminal legal system designed to uphold white supremacy and inequality.
As we mourn the loss of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and the lifelong injuries suffered by Jacob Blake and Gaige Grosskreutz, we renew our efforts to work for racial justice, systems that promote healing and accountability, and an end to violence in all its forms.