COMICSANDS
percolately
georgetakei
secondnexus
george's picks
Most Read
jacob blake
Kyle Rittenhouse Juror Kicked Out After Making Crude 'Joke' To Bailiff About Jacob Blake Shooting
A juror in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse was dismissed from service--and for good reason.
Kyle Rittenhouse, a now 18-year-old Illinois resident, is currently on trial for the murder of two people and the attempted murder of a third during a protest against police violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse was 17 at the time he traveled from Illinois to Wisconsin with an illegal firearm.
The Kenosha Black Lives Matter protest was one of many across the United States that occurred in 2020 after the filmed death of George Floyd at the hands of police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As more unarmed Black men were killed or injured, new protests began.
The Kenosha protest was jn honor of Jacob Blake, an unarmed 29 year-old Black man who was shot in the back and seriously injured by police officer Rusten Sheskey in August of 2020. The shooting left Blake paralyzed from the waist down, while Sheskey returned to duty in April of this year and has not faced any criminal consequences.
During this protest, Rittenhouse had his mother drive him across state lines to Kenosha to confront the protesters. When Rittenhouse—who was armed with an AR-15 style rifle—clashed with a mentally ill homeless man and two Black Lives Matter protesters, he fired his weapon, leaving two men dead and one injured.
Rittenhouse's trial on charges of felony homicide began on Tuesday, November 2, 2021.
But one of the trial jurors—an older White man—has already been dismissed after making a racist joke to the bailiff about Blake, the victim whose shooting led to the protest where Rittenhouse chose to shoot three men.
He said:
"Why did the Kenosha police shoot Jacob Blake seven times?"
While it is disputed whether the juror followed through with the punchline or not the Assistant District Attorney, Thomas Binger, said the punchline to the joke was:
"Because they ran out of bullets."
A juror was dismissed in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial after attempting to tell a "joke" about Jacob Blake to a deputy earlier in the week. According to prosecutors, it started with "why did it take seven shots to shoot Jacob Blake" and ended with "because they ran out of bullets."
— Omar Jimenez (@OmarJimenez) November 4, 2021
While the juror admitted to making the joke, he refused to repeat it and said the joke had nothing to do with the Rittenhouse trial.
He said:
"My feeling is it has nothing to do with the case."
"It has nothing to do with Kyle and his seven charges."
Prosecutors called the joke "tasteless," and argued it showed clear racial bias, making the juror unfit to serve on the jury as jurors must be impartial to the case.
Bruce Schroeder, Circuit Judge presiding over the Rittenhouse trial, agreed with the prosecution the joke showed racial bias and ruled to dismiss the juror from the trial.
Schroeder said:
"I've talked quite a bit about public confidence in the outcome of the trial."
"It is clear that the appearance of bias is present, and it would seriously undermine the outcome of the case."
Allegedly, the defense was initially resistant to the dismissal of the juror, but did not formally fight against it.
Twitter is was disgusted by the behavior of the dismissed juror and are applauding his dismissal.
BREAKING: A juror from the Kyle Rittenhouse trial was dismissed after making a joke about the shooting of Jacob Blake to a deputy. This is why representation matters.
— Kate 🤍🇺🇸 (@ImSpeaking13) November 4, 2021
A juror has been removed from the Kyle Rittenhouse case for being a stupid idiot
— Jack Posobiec 🇺🇸 (@JackPosobiec) November 4, 2021
I would add that Jacob Blake was SHOT IN THE BACK by police and PERMANENTLY PARALYZED.
And this was a "joke" a juror felt confident to tell to a police officer. A juror for Kyle Rittenhouse, who is charged with killing two people who were protesting police violence. https://t.co/ULTWQrpxmb
— Victoria Brownworth (@VABVOX) November 4, 2021
Same as it ever was. Kyle is probably going to walk free and then later straight into Congress as a Republican. https://t.co/nVThDTbMls
— Wajahat Ali (@WajahatAli) November 4, 2021
BREAKING: One juror in the Kyle Rittenhouse jury has been removed for being openly racist and really stupid.
— TheSadTruth💙 (@ReportsDaNews) November 4, 2021
"A white juror in the Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial has been dismissed after telling a sheriff's deputy a joke about the police shooting of Jacob Blake."
Still not convinced that Systemic Racism in America is real? I'm honestly more surprised that he actually got dismissed.
— 💙🦅 Anis Jerbi 🦅💙 (@ArtistAJ17) November 4, 2021
reminder: judge insisted on sped up process to screen jurors. whole thing had to be done in one day https://t.co/9PQiARkfx6
— Eric Boehlert (@EricBoehlert) November 4, 2021
Oh gee. I wonder what made the juror feel comfortable that this was acceptable. Perhaps the behavior of the judge in this trial was a factor? Nah. That couldn't be it. 🙄 https://t.co/ZkNVNvfihP
— Kaz Weida (@kazweida) November 4, 2021
Wow - so now I have zero confidence in their jury selection.
— Gail #And the Winners are -Joe and Kamala! 🇺🇸 (@snapdragon16) November 4, 2021
Absolutely. The US Justice system is a train with no wheels. Totally divorced from ethics, law, sanity, accountability.....
A broken machine
— Resistance Was Not Futile (@DonPayne17) November 4, 2021
This development comes just weeks after Schroeder declared the men Rittenhouse shot could not be referred to in court as "victims" but rather as "rioters, looters, and arsonists" even though the mentally ill homeless man Rittenhouse killed first was not involved in the protest.
Say their names. Kyle's victims. Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber shot dead. Gaige Grosskreutz wounded.
— Barbara Malmet (@B52Malmet) November 4, 2021
The judge in Kyle Rittenhouse's case prohibited lawyers from calling his victims victims
WTAF?
Rittenhouse is a murderer and the people he slaughtered with an illegally procured AR-15 were VICTIMS
Why this whitewashing?!
— Lindy Li (@lindyli) October 26, 2021
The people murdered by Kyle Rittenhouse should ONLY be referred to as "victims," and Kyle Rittenhouse should only be referred to as a murderer.
It's not complicated.
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) October 26, 2021
Does anyone else agree the VICTIMS of Kyle Rittenhouse deserve justice?
— Jessica M. MSN, FNP-C (@Jessicam6946) November 2, 2021
Due to the highly-charged political and racial aspects of the case, both the prosecution and the defense had initially hoped to send out questionnaires to prospective jurors in order to detect any biases.
Schroeder, however, denied this request, which may have been a factor that led to the dismissed juror serving in the trial to begin with.
The nation has been anticipating the high-profile Rittenhouse trial, wondering whether justice will be done or whether Rittenhouse will walk free.
Only time will tell.