Tuesday, September 1, 2020

Trump mischaracterizes Kenosha protest shooting, defends Rittenhouse on eve of visit to city roiled by unrest, violence

From JSOnline:

Bill GlauberSophie CarsonMolly Beck
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel


KENOSHA - On the eve of his visit to Kenosha, President Donald Trump defended a 17-year-old Illinois resident who was charged last week in a brutal shooting attack against demonstrators that left two people dead and one seriously wounded.
The president also mischaracterized the incident in which Kyle Rittenhouse was accused of using an assault-style rifle.
“That was an interesting situation, you saw the same tape that I saw,” Trump said Monday during a White House news conference. “He was trying to get away from them, I guess, looks like, and he fell and then they very violently attacked him and it was something we're looking at right now and it's under investigation."
"I guess, he was in very big trouble, he probably would have been killed," Trump added.
At the point of the evening the president describes, the teen had already shot and killed one protester, according to charging documents and video footage.
Trump's latest comments set the stage for what could be a highly charged visit at a time when the community is still recovering from a week of shootings and unrest that left a Black man paralyzed, two white protesters dead and businesses looted and burned.

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