Current Events > Freeing Kyle Rittenhouse reminds me of a story

(+) Yeah! (+)

This actually happened about 50 years ago but can still happen. It is easier to talk about stuff like this when it happened in the past.

A father, 18 yo son and 15 yo son were riding on 2 dirt bikes. A hunting party of 4 opened fire and all 3 were shot to death. The deceased and the sheriff were all locals and knew each other. For this reason the sheriffs investigation and recommended conclusions were turned aside and the case was tried in the city.

Forensis analysis determined that some of the bullet were from a handgun and all of the others were from the same rifle. The sheriff had taken the rifles as evidence but the handgun was long gone by the time the analysis came that some bullets were from a handgun. However, the involvement of the handgun plus the fact that only one rifle was being fired goes counter to the story that the bikes burst on the scene and the hunters fired. There was also medical indication that the 18 yo son was shot later than the others. There was also the fact the bodies had been allegedly moved to the road but no blood trail. There was the fact that the sheriff knew that this family did not take their bikes off road and would never do so with the child.

So the sheriff''s acquaintance with the deceased influenced the sheriff's investigation and its conclusion. One of the hunting party was a guide. It is known-but-not-said that the sheriff got information from the guide on the grounds of total confidentiality.

The hunting party was acquitted. The sheriff's request to obtain handguns belonging to the hunters was denied.

* * *

People say KR was defending himself. A 9 yo might not know that walking around with a big gun is provocation and is life-threatening. KR is 17 which is old enough to know this.

Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn concludes that KR was defending himself and the due process will return this verdict. I insist that due process must take into account that KR created the situation.


---