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In under nine minutes, MSNBC host Chris Hayes on Tuesday night summarized the American right wing's transformation in recent years into a political movement that openly celebrates violence, zeroing in on America Fest 2021--a conservative gathering taking place in Phoenix this week where Kyle Rittenhouse was celebrated by influential Fox News hosts and received a standing ovation.
Eighteen-year-old Rittenhouse, who was found not guilty last month of homicide charges after he shot and killed two people and wounded a third at racial justice protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year, "received the rock star treatment" at the summit, where organizers lit up a pyrotechnic display and the audience of 6,700 chanted Rittenhouse's name as he walked on stage.
The spectacle was indicative of "one of the most ominous, despicable developments in our politics in recent memory," said Hayes on his MSNBC show, "All In With Chris Hayes." He called the emergence of violence, particularly gun violence, as a "core identity aspect" of conservatives in the United States.
Watch:
America Fest 2021, said Hayes, "is the kind of place where we are seeing a certain grim aspect of right-wing politics getting increasingly more pronounced. It is a sort of celebration and modeling of fundamentally aberrant anti-social violent behavior, like being a jerk. That's the Donald Trump MAGA model, of course."
"The celebration of violence is one of the most ominous developments in American politics and [something that has] been happening for a long time. But they are putting it now in full display."
But while Turning Point USA, the right-wing group that hosts America Fest, helped catapult to fame Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Georgia)--who have targeted progressives including Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Marie Newman (D-Ill.) with racist and anti-LGBTQ invective--Hayes emphasized that the key to being treated as a hero by the right is "not just rhetorical."
"As you saw with the welcome for Kyle Rittenhouse," Hayes said, "they are literally celebrating killing people."
Fox News host Tucker Carlson, whose show is one of the highest-rated on the network, was filmed backstage at America Fest excitedly greeting Rittenhouse, telling the teen--who has also received internship offers from multiple Republican lawmakers--"We're fans of yours, as you know."
Hayes said, "What does that mean? There's literally nothing to be a fan of."
"Kyle Rittenhouse is a child who shot and killed two people and wounded a third," he added. "That's his body of work. That's it. You're a fan of that."
Beyond the star treatment bestowed on Rittenhouse at America Fest, Hayes highlighted a statement "laced with violent rhetoric" by Fox News personality Jesse Watters, who urged journalists to "ambush" White House medical advisor Anthony Fauci with interviews about the origins of the coronavirus.
"Now you go in for the kill shot. This is when you say, 'Dr. Fauci, you funded risky research at a sloppy Chinese lab, the same lab that sprung this pandemic on the world,'" Watters told the crowd. "Boom, he is dead. He is dead. He's done."
Fauci has faced death threats since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, during which he has urged people to take life-saving precautions like social distancing, mask-wearing, and getting vaccinated against the disease.
Watters' "words come in the broader context of everything being said and done on the right and they were spoken at this America Fest event where they are celebrating Kyle Rittenhouse's literal kill shot against two people," Hayes said.
At one point during the gathering, host and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk was forced to quickly tamp down a question from an audience member who wanted right-wing leaders to let the public know when they "get to use the guns."
"That's not a joke... I mean, literally, where's the line? How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people?" the man said, repeating the lie pushed by former President Donald Trump about the 2020 election before Kirk hastily denounced his violent rhetoric.
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Hayes urged his audience to take the man's question seriously, noting that America Fest 2021 took place just weeks after the Public Religion Research Institute found that nearly 30% of Republicans believe "true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country."
The rhetoric at the gathering combined with "the fetishization of guns," the U.S. population's status as the most heavily armed country in the world, and "the celebration of violence is one of the most ominous developments in American politics and [something that has] been happening for a long time," said Hayes.
"But they are putting it now in full display," he added.
Racial justice advocates reacted with outrage and a complete lack of surprise Friday after a Kenosha, Wisconsin jury found Illinois teenager Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges for killing two men and wounding a third during a 2020 protest against the police shooting of Jacob Blake, with some observers asserting that the verdict encourages vigilante attacks on protestors.
"Judge Bruce Schroeder presented a case study in how the judiciary upholds systems of white supremacy. And he's no anomaly."
Rejecting the prosecution's assertion that "you cannot claim self-defense against a danger you create," the nearly all-white jury acquitted Rittenhouse, who was 17 years old when he shot and killed Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle on August 25, 2020.
"We are heartbroken and angry that Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted in his criminal trial for the murder of our son Anthony Huber," the slain 26-year-old's family said in a statement. "There was no justice today for Anthony, or for Mr. Rittenhouse's other victims."
"Today's verdict means there is no accountability for the person who murdered our son," the statement continued. "It 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."
Speaking outside the Kenosha County Courthouse after the verdict, Justin Blake, Jacob Blake's uncle, contended that "from day one, the judge had his hand on the scale."
"He didn't allow pictures. He didn't allow videotapes. He didn't allow. He didn't allow. He didn't allow," he said. "He was doing everything he could to allow this young man to leave the courtroom clear and free. It put blinds on the eyes of the jurors, and maybe because he did it, they didn't see the evidence how they could have seen it."
"He was doing everything he could to allow this young man to leave the courtroom clear and free," Blake added.
\u201cThinking about Tamir Rice, Tyre King, Ma\u2019khia Bryant, Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, and so many others who didn\u2019t have the opportunity to \u2018defend\u2019 themselves.\n\nDon\u2019t tell me the system isn\u2019t racist.\u201d— Nina Turner (@Nina Turner) 1637350177
The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence said it could "not forget the root of this issue."
"Kyle Rittenhouse murdered two people during protests against the police shooting of Jacob Blake," the group continued, referring to the Black man shot seven times in the back and paralyzed by Kenosha cop Rusten Sheskey. No charges were filed against Sheskey, who remains an officer today.
"Jacob Blake has yet to receive justice," Brady Center added. "We must continue to fight America's systemic racism, which fuels police violence and white vigilantism."
\u201cPolice shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back, leaving him paralyzed. The cop hasn't been held accountable\n\nKyle Rittenhouse illegally carried a rifle, killed protestors & wasn't arrested for shooting until he was in Illinois. He was found not guilty.\n\nThis is white supremacy.\u201d— RootsAction (@RootsAction) 1637346798
Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action, said in a statement that "Rittenhouse's acquittal shows how the criminal justice system is designed to protect racist vigilantism."
"When Rittenhouse went to Kenosha last year he was continuing a long and ugly history in this country of white supremacists responding to multiracial movements for justice and civil rights with violence, and then claiming to be the victim," Cotler asserted.
"We saw this truth from the moment police allowed him to leave the scene after killing two people," he added, as well as "his brutal actions championed by politicians and pundits who routinely manufacture fear and division in order to hold onto power."
The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) said in a statement that the verdict "is saddening, infuriating, and utterly unsurprising."
"It came at the end of a trial in which Judge Bruce Schroeder went out of his way to favor Rittenhouse in ways that would have been inconceivable were the defendant a Black person who had taken a semi-automatic rifle to a protest and killed two people," the group argued.
\u201cTravyon Martin was an unarmed 17-year-old kid. He was killed carrying a bag of skittles. The right-wing called him a threat. \n\nKyle Rittenhouse was 17 years old and armed. He shot and killed 2 people with an AR-15. The right-wing calls him a hero.\u201d— Public Citizen (@Public Citizen) 1637346060
CCR continued:
After an aspiring militia leader invited "patriots" to combat "evil thugs," Rittenhouse, an Illinois, resident, was one of a group of heavily armed, pro-police paramilitaries who descended on the protests in Kenosha and to whom the local police provided their gratitude, support and encouragement.
Not surprisingly, Rittenhouse, with his link to the Proud Boys, has become a hero to white nationalists and many on the right. His racist vigilantism adds him to a long line of racist vigilantes, including George Zimmerman--Trayvon Martin's killer--and the three white men now on trial in Georgia for killing Ahmaud Arbery. Their actions are set against the backdrop of ongoing law-enforcement targeting and surveillance of Black-led organizing.
The People's City Council of Los Angeles said "white supremacy will do whatever it can to protect itself. Kyle Rittenhouse getting off should surprise no one."
"America is a racist, anti-Black country," the group added. "White supremacists around the country will now be emboldened to hunt down protestors."
\u201cRittenhouse being acquitted of all charges is a sickening travesty of justice & reminder that all of capitalism's institutions are complicit in this racist, murderous system that's exploitative of the vast majority. We'll need powerful mass movements uniting the working class.\u201d— Kshama Sawant (@Kshama Sawant) 1637348310
Rashad Robinson, president of the racial justice group Color of Change, said in a statement that "Kyle Rittenhouse's acquittal doesn't just add insult to injury in this horrific case, it sends a dangerous and twisted message about how the legal system coddles white defendants accused of unconscionable crimes."
"For too long, the system--judges, lawyers, police officers--has accepted this as the norm, but we cannot tolerate this kind of negligence anymore; it's literally killing us," he continued. "Throughout the trial, we've seen the structural inequities within the legal system on full display."
"From dismissing the underage weapons charge to politicizing the straightforward facts of Rittenhouse's case, Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder presented a case study in how the judiciary upholds systems of white supremacy," Robinson added. "And he's no anomaly. His behavior underscores how the entire legal apparatus perpetuates the existence of two criminal justice systems: one for white people and another for Black people."
\u201cThis verdict demonstrates that our work to make our legal system equal, fair, and just is more urgent than ever.\n\nProsecutors have a critical role to play in criminal justice reform and securing equal justice under the law. \n\nWe will continue our fight for justice.\u201d— Chesa Boudin \u535a\u5fb9\u601d (@Chesa Boudin \u535a\u5fb9\u601d) 1637348598
U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.) tweeted: "Kyle Rittenhouse is living proof that white tears can still forestall justice. A murderer is once again walking free today--our system is terribly broken."
A Wisconsin district attorney announced Tuesday that he will not file criminal charges against a white Kenosha officer, Rusten Sheskey, who on August 23 shot Jacob Blake in the back several times at point-blank range near a vehicle containing his children, paralyzing the Black 29-year-old and sparking deadly protests against police violence.
"This was a tragedy first and foremost for Jacob Blake, who still suffers from grievous injuries," said Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley during a Tuesday press conference while also revealing that "no Kenosha law enforcement officer in this case will be charged with any criminal offense based on the facts and the laws."
The decision drew condemnation from civil rights defenders and advocates of police reform who have long criticized U.S. law enforcement's treatment of people of color.
\u201cJACOB BLAKE ANNOUNCEMENT: Prosecutors will hold a news conference to discuss the decision on whether to press charges against Kenosha police officers involved in the shooting of Jacob Blake. https://t.co/W0KXwTsUZi\u201d— NowThis (@NowThis) 1609881030
\u201cJacob Blake was shot 7 times in the back, and is now partially paralyzed. How is such an excessive use of force not criminal?\u201d— Ro Khanna (@Ro Khanna) 1609884506
Ben Crump--a nationally renowned civil rights attorney retained by the family of Jacob Blake and others injured or killed by police--along with co-counsels Patrick A. Salvi II and B'Ivory LaMarr said in a joint statement that they were "immensely disappointed" in Graveley's decision "not to charge the officers involved in this horrific shooting."
"We feel this decision failed not only Jacob and his family, but the community that protested and demanded justice," the lawyers said. "Officer Sheskey's actions sparked outrage and advocacy throughout the country, but the district attorney's decision not to charge the officer who shot Jacob in the back multiple times, leaving him paralyzed, further destroys trust in our justice system."
"This sends the wrong message to police officers throughout the country. It says it is OK for police to abuse their power and recklessly shoot their weapon, destroying the life of someone who was trying to protect his children," they added. "It is now our duty to broaden the fight for justice on behalf of Jacob and the countless other Black men and women who are victims of racial injustice and police brutality in this country."
The lawyers vowed that they "will continue to press forward with a civil lawsuit and fight for systemic change in policing and transparency at all levels," and urged people across the country to "continue to raise their voices and demand change in peaceful and positive ways during this emotional time."
\u201cIn 2020, thousands took to the streets to demand that #BlackLivesMatter. Now, we begin 2021 with a shameful reminder that our criminal legal system was not designed for people who look like Jacob Blake and me.\n\nOur work is not over yet. We still have so far to go. \u270a\ud83c\udfff\u201d— Mondaire Jones (@Mondaire Jones) 1609883738
\u201cToday's news will surely disappoint many in Kenosha. As @AdamLMahoney and I detailed in the summer, the shooting of Jacob Blake unearthed a systemic culture of bias and oppression against Black people there and across Wisconsin. \n\nhttps://t.co/65gCZHbMhe\u201d— Carlos (@Carlos) 1609881769
Chris Ott, executive director of the ACLU of Wisconsin, similarly expressed disappointment that the district attorney decided against "holding police accountable for another example of their repeated use of excessive force against people of color."
"This continues the cycle of enabling police violence and evading accountability when they seriously injure and harm a Black person," Ott said in a statement. "Based on the video footage of the incident, it remains hard to see any reason to shoot Mr. Blake in the back repeatedly. But, as we've seen so many times before, the police in this case were held to a different standard of responsibility than the rest of us."
"Kenosha has given another terrible example in a national pattern of police using excessive force against people of color during routine encounters, escalating situations instead of defusing them and then being given a pass," he said. "This officer will continue with his career with the mistaken belief that he has done no wrong, while Jacob Blake will remain paralyzed and left to deal with the consequences of this officer's actions. Today, justice was not served."
\u201cIt has just been announced that the police officers involved in the August 2020 shooting of #JacobBlake will not be charged. I am sharing my thoughts on this miscarriage of justice live on MSNBC. (Part 1)\u201d— Reverend Al Sharpton (@Reverend Al Sharpton) 1609883425
\u201cI\u2019m not sure what to say in this moment other than I am hurt...and that this feeling is too familiar, because we feel it, we see it and we live it again and again.\n\nIt\u2019s why we organize, why we protest, why we say their names, and why we say: \n\n#BlackLivesMatter\u00a0\n#JacobBlake\u201d— Nina Turner (@Nina Turner) 1609888234
Denouncing Graveley's decision as "foul and shameful," NAACP president and CEO Derrick Johnson said, "It is yet another stark reminder of the free-willing atrocities committed against Black people at the hands of those entrusted to maintain public safety."
The district attorney explained Tuesday that he "would have to disprove the clear expression of these officers that they had to fire a weapon to defend themselves," and he did not believe the state would be able to do so.
According to the Associated Press:
Sheskey fired seven times, hitting Blake in the back four times and in the side three times, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down. Graveley said the shots in the side show [Blake] had twisted toward the officer.
Graveley showed reporters an enlarged photo of what he said was Blake's knife, adding that Blake acknowledged to investigators he had it. The district attorney walked reporters through how he would have prosecuted the case, saying jurors would have had to put themselves in Sheskey's position and that the officer's self-defense claims would have held up given the circumstances of the case.
[...] The officers were not equipped with body cameras.
Carl Takei, senior staff attorney with the ACLU's Trone Center for Justice and Equality said, "This decision--and the prosecutor's reliance on tropes of superhuman Black men to justify police fears--should not come as a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to police's role in Black communities since they began as slave patrols."
"All of this emphasizes how the criminal legal system, from police to prosecutors, have functioned to oppress and harm Black people," Takei added. "While accountability for the officer might have led to some semblance of justice, real justice would have been Jacob Blake never being shot in the first place."
Ahead of the announcement, the AP noted, Kenosha's Common Council "on Monday night unanimously approved an emergency resolution giving the mayor the power to impose curfews, among other things, and Gov. Tony Evers activated 500 National Guard troops to assist."
Johnson of the NAACP declared that "at this moment, the work of the American people is clear: we must continue to fight, organize, and mobilize against police brutality. Far too many Black lives have been damaged or lost due to the egregious malpractice of police officers, elected officials, and the justice system as a whole. While the visions of Jacob Blake, Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and countless others play over and over in our minds, we must not grow weary until we've achieved police liability and substantive change is realized."
Outrage over Blake's shooting led to protests this summer as part of a national wave of racial justice demonstrations that began after Minneapolis police killed George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, in May.
During Kenosha's summer protests, Kyle Rittenhouse, a white teenager from Illinois, allegedly shot and killed two protesters and wounded a third. Rittenhouse, who turned 18 after the incident, pleaded not guilty to all charges at a Tuesday hearing.
\u201cJacob Blake on the difference between his son and Kyle Rittenhouse: \u201cIt\u2019s two justice systems. That 17-year-old killed two people and blew another man\u2019s arm off. They gave him water and a high-five. My son got ICU and paralyzed from the waist down.\u201d\u201d— Shannon Watts (@Shannon Watts) 1609883158
"This is sickening. No charges for the cop who shot Jacob Blake seven times, and meanwhile Kyle Rittenhouse is out on bail," Leah Greenberg, co-executive director of the advocacy group Indivisible, tweeted Tuesday. "There is no justice. The system is rotten to the core."
Scott Roberts, senior director of criminal justice campaigns at Color of Change, said Tuesday that "in the absence of justice today, Kenosha deserves a full accounting of the clear misconduct in this case and an commitment to protect Black communities from this form of violence that has been allowed to run rampant in our country."
"America's policing problem has always been a threat to public safety, but the issue is spiraling in Kenosha," Roberts said. "The crisis in Kenosha reveals the ugly, racist double-standard of American policing where an armed white gunman can be detained peacefully while an unarmed Black man gets seven bullets in his spine."
Roberts reiterated his organization's call for the removal of Sheskey and Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis as well as a U.S. Justice Department probe of the city police department's policies, in addition to its investigation into this case.
He also urged President-elect Joe Biden to "upend our policing system and reimagine public safety in a way that protects and affirms Black lives," emphasizing that "as local officials continue to allow police violence to go unchecked, we desperately need the president-elect to follow through on his commitments to police accountability by using the full force of the federal government to investigate individual police shootings, police departments as a whole, and the prosecutors who give them cover."
This post has been updated to reflect additions to the Associated Press report.