A US politician has called on people to be 'armed and dangerous' following the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. Watch below:
Madison Cawthorn, a Republican member of the House of Representatives, has supported the 18-year-old throughout his trial for the murder of two people and attempted murder of one other.
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And following the teenager's not guilty verdict today (19 November), Cawthorn shared a video to his Instagram account in which he praised Rittenhouse and even offered him a job.
He said: "Kyle Rittenhouse is not guilty, my friends. You have a right to defend yourself.
"Be armed, be dangerous and be moral."
Rittenhouse was 17 when he travelled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, from his home in Illinois after protests broke out following the shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake, by a white police officer.
He took his AR-style semi-automatic rifle with him, which, according to his lawyers, he believed would be taken away and used against him.
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The teenager then shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded volunteer medic Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, who testified against him.
But following a three-week trial, the jury found the teenager not guilty on all counts after three days of deliberation.
Following the verdict, U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance said the turning point of the trial came during the testimony of Grosskreutz.
"The prosecution's real problems began when one of their key witnesses, the victim who survived, took the witness stand, and he essentially on cross-examination conceded self-defence," she told MSNBC.
"He talked about the fact that there was a gun in his hand.
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"The prosecution tried to argue their way out of that situation, but I think the die was cast in a significant way at that point."
The mother of Mr Huber, Karen Bloom, released a statement following the verdict, saying that she and John Huber would continue to 'fight to hold those responsible to account'.
It read: "We are heartbroken and angry that Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted in his criminal trial for the murder of our son Anthony Huber. There was no justice today for Anthony, or for Mr Rittenhouse's other victims, Joseph Rosenbaum and Gaige Grosskreutz.
"We did not attend the trial because we could not bear to sit in a courtroom and repeatedly watch videos of our son's murder, and because we have been subjected to many hurtful and nasty comments in the past year. But we watched the trial closely, hoping it would bring us closure.
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"That did not happen. Today's verdict means there is no accountability for the person who murdered our son. 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. We hope that decent people will join us in forcefully rejecting that message and demanding more of our laws, our officials, and our justice system."
Featured Image Credit: Alamy