Things I have learned from reading the internet:
- It is by definition illegal to use a firearm to defend yourself.
- If Rittenhouse is acquitted, the judge can overturn the verdict and declare him guilty. Alternately, the prosecutor can declare a mistrial.
- Whether or not the laws of the state you are standing in apply to you depends upon which state you are visiting from.
I've seen those three statements (or their close equivalents) repeated multiple times by multiple people.
I'm not sure why we even bother to teach high-school civics.
On the other hand, if you're either a law nerd or an attorney and could use some good laughs, check out the Twitter account "Bad Legal Takes".
You're welcome.
One can regain their right of self-defense by retreating and attempting to break off the engagement. It's not objectively clear whether or not Rittenhouse started the confrontation with Rosenbaum, but he (Rittenhouse) was objectively trying to run away and escape at the time Rosenbaum caught up to him and grabbed his rifle. (While Rosenbaum was pursuing Rittenhouse, someone fired a shot in Rittenhouse's near vicinity, and Rittenhouse paused for a second or two to see who was shooting at him, which allowed Rosenbaum the opportunity to catch him)
There is a debate over whether the powder-soot marks on Rosenbaum's hands (the kind of soot you find on the end of a rifle barrel) came from him grabbing the rifle, or came from him trying to brush away the barrel of the rifle. In either case, there is no debate that Rosenbaum was trying to gain control of the rifle at the time he was shot.
Rosenbaum was mentally unstable, suicidal, and violently aggressive throughout the evening when these events took place. After the threats he had made, had I been running away from him as he was chasing me, were I armed, I would have shot him in order to save myself from the attack.
Please don't take that as an endorsement of Rittenhouse's presence with a rifle in the first place. I fully support Wisconsin changing the law to make it illegal for a 16 or 17 year old to walk around in the street with a rifle, and I'm not generally a fan of open-carry to begin with.
Out of curiosity, if you were armed, and running away while being chased across a parking lot by a clearly hostile assailant who has threatened to kill you if he catches you alone, and he catches you.... are you going to attempt to engage in hand-to-hand combat, or are you going to defend yourself with the firearm you have?