On Nov. 19, Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges stemming from his actions during protests in Kenosha, WI during August 2020. To summarize briefly what happened, Rittenhouse went to Kenosha from his hometown in Illinois in order to help protect businesses and provide medical care, but ended up shooting three protestors and killing two of them with an assault rifle. As the verdict has rippled throughout the country and the world during the last week, many people have continued to exercise their First Amendment rights, so here is what has been happening over the last week.
After the verdict came out on Friday, demonstrations took place in Wisconsin, with Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers already allowing 500 National Guardsmen to help with public safety. Meanwhile, in Portland, OR, demonstrations started out peacefully, with protestors staging a die-in protesting the verdict, but once night fell, a riot was declared after police and protestors clashed outside of the Multnomah County Justice Center. In Seattle, small protests took place over the weekend, including protests which were held at Cal Anderson Park and at Seattle Central College. The Seattle Police Department did not make any arrests and there was no significant property damage, with a turnout of roughly 75 protestors.
