Media that distorted events in Kenosha is distorting trial of Rittenhouse

 William Jacobson:

Media malpractice has come full circle in Kenosha, Wis.

Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial for the shooting deaths of two people and the wounding of another is nearing its end, with the jury expected to get the case soon. The shootings took place as riots, arson and looting shook Kenosha after police shot Jacob Blake on August 23, 2020. The violence fed off the nationwide riots and looting that followed the May death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

From the start, the media misrepresented the Blake case and ensuing riots. They portrayed Blake as an unarmed man who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, subjected to police brutality due to racism.

The truth was far different.

After an intensive investigation, prosecutors declared Blake’s shooting a justifiable use of force. The federal Justice Department reached the same conclusion. Contrary to media portraits, Blake was armed with a knife and was shot when he turned in a slashing motion at a policeman within arm’s reach.

While it wouldn’t be fair to say the media coverage caused the Kenosha riots, the press downplayed the mayhem and ramped up the hysteria. As with the Black Lives Matter riots in Minneapolis and beyond, the mainstream media incessantly focused away from the violence, despite almost 20 related deaths and more than $1 billion in damage.

Perhaps the most notorious example is CNN reporter Omar Jimenez standing in front of burning buildings in Kenosha with the on-air chyron reading, “Fiery but mostly peaceful protests after police shooting.” The phrase “mostly peaceful” is now a popular internet meme used to mock distorted mainstream media coverage.

It’s happening again with the Rittenhouse case, which was born in the Kenosha riots. From the media coverage leading up to the trial, one would think Rittenhouse was a white supremacist militia member who traveled to Kenosha to shoot up peaceful protesters.

But as has been widely documented, the case is going poorly for the prosecution. While I’m not predicting an outcome, having followed the case carefully, I can say that Rittenhouse has a strong case for self-defense.

One of the deceased, Joseph Rosenbaum, was a clearly violent person who had threatened to kill Rittenhouse, chased him down and went to grab Rittenhouse’s rifle when shot. The other dead man, Anthony Huber, was beating Rittenhouse with a skateboard in a swinging manner when shot.

Gaige Grosskreutz, who was wounded, admitted under cross-examination that he ran after Rittenhouse and closed the gap (but denied he was “chasing” him) — and that Rittenhouse only fired on him when Grosskreutz lowered his loaded Glock pistol to point directly at Rittenhouse from three feet away.

Most of this evidence came out of the prosecution case. When the defense called him to testify, Rittenhouse stuck to the same story witnesses told.

With trial evidence inconsistent with the news’ narrative, there could have been a major media mea culpa. Instead, headlines and framing continue that pre-trial narrative, even if inconvenient facts appear deep down in the articles. As the editors who run these stories and draft the headlines know, many if not most people don’t get far beyond the headlines and opening paragraphs.
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Law professor Jonathon Turley also examines the case and finds the prosecution in trouble and also sees the liberal media as ignoring the evidence that is favorable to Rittenhouse. 

The media got the story about what caused the riots wrong and followed up with a misleading story about what Rittenhouse was faced with.  Jacobson is right.  It looks like another case of media malpractice that could lead to more riots based on their false narrative about the trial.

For more on the distorted vision of liberal commentators on the trial see:

RITTENHOUSE TRIAL BRINGS OUT THE CRAZY