Call for calm as Rittenhouse acquittal divides US society

Officials across the US and the families of victims yesterday urged for calm as protests in several cities followed the polarising outcome in the murder trial of Kyle Rittenhouse.

- ALEX WOODWARD

In New York around 300 people marched and carried placards from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to the Brooklyn Bridge before crossing into lower Manhattan. There were protests in several cities across the US yesterday.

Mr Rittenhouse faced five serious criminal charges for fatally shooting two men and injuring another with an AR-15-style rifle in the volatile aftermath of a police brutality protest on 25 August 2020. He was acquitted on Friday following a 15-day trial with nearly four days of jury deliberations.

Protests in Portland, Oregon, prompted officials to declare a riot yesterday. A group of “10 to 20” people in a crowd of roughly 200 protesters broke windows and tossed objects at police, according to the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office.

The law enforcement agency declared a riot after the group began “tampering with” a gate out the Multnomah County Justice Center, which houses local police, and tried to block the ramp with downed tree branches. One person with an outstanding warrant was arrested.

Another protest in Chicago saw a 90-minute march through the city’s streets. Around 100 demonstrators in Oakland, California, also marched and rallied on Friday night.