Would the same Judges and juries of our peers acquit a BLM protestor armed with military-grade weaponry gunning down an unarmed Proud Boy or III% militiamen during a Blue Lives Matter Protest? We pose this question to provoke the tragic condition in which our nation finds itself following the verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.
This verdict sends a message that it is okay for outside agitators to invade the sanctity of first amendment expression, when those perpetrators are white males protecting white property and white interests. Conversely, Black Americans and their allies have received a message loud and clear from Judge Bruce Schroeder and the jury in this case: There is no safe space available to lament and seek redress for the historical atrocities and injustices against Black people.
This verdict will embolden armed white militiamen, and other far-right extremists similar to those who violently invaded our nation’s capitol. This, in combination with new legislative efforts to encourage armed vigilantism nationwide, and in Ohio specifically, will undoubtedly lead to more blood spilled on the streets of our nation.
Today we grieve the loss of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Hubert, as well as the indignity suffered by Gaige Grosskreutz, and the attendant miscarriage of justice experienced here today. We call upon all Ohio citizens to stand together in defiance of any new legislation which would embolden the armed vigilantes of this state and nation.
In the interim, we would encourage all oppressed persons, and their allies, to arm themselves within the confines of the law in order to protect their own lives, property and liberty in self-defense.