Colin Kaepernick On Rittenhouse Verdict: 'White Supremacy Cannot Be Reformed'
Mary Papenfuss
Sat, November 20, 2021
Activist-athlete Colin Kaepernick on Friday called out the system that allowed for the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on all charges in the shooting deaths of two unarmed men and the wounding of a third.
The verdict “further validates the need to abolish our current system. White supremacy cannot be reformed,” Kaepernick tweeted Friday.
“We just witnessed a system built on white supremacy validate the terroristic acts of a white supremacist,” wrote the former San Francisco 49s quarterback, who was forced out of the NFL after taking a knee before games to protest racism and police brutality.
The day he shot three people, Rittenhouse, then 17, had traveled from Illinois with an AR-15-style rifle to a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, against the police shooting of Black resident Jacob Blake.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) expressed a similar perspective to Kapernick’s about who is protected in America. “What we are witnessing is a system functioning as designed and protecting those it was designed for,” she tweeted.
Outspoken former ESPN personality Jemele Hill also called out white supremacy’s role in the Rittenhouse verdict.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
Mary Papenfuss
Sat, November 20, 2021
Activist-athlete Colin Kaepernick on Friday called out the system that allowed for the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on all charges in the shooting deaths of two unarmed men and the wounding of a third.
The verdict “further validates the need to abolish our current system. White supremacy cannot be reformed,” Kaepernick tweeted Friday.
“We just witnessed a system built on white supremacy validate the terroristic acts of a white supremacist,” wrote the former San Francisco 49s quarterback, who was forced out of the NFL after taking a knee before games to protest racism and police brutality.
The day he shot three people, Rittenhouse, then 17, had traveled from Illinois with an AR-15-style rifle to a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, against the police shooting of Black resident Jacob Blake.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) expressed a similar perspective to Kapernick’s about who is protected in America. “What we are witnessing is a system functioning as designed and protecting those it was designed for,” she tweeted.
Outspoken former ESPN personality Jemele Hill also called out white supremacy’s role in the Rittenhouse verdict.
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.
Sat, November 20, 2021,
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Law enforcement in Portland declared a riot Friday night as about 200 demonstrators protested the acquittal of a teen who killed two people and injured another in Wisconsin.
The protesters were breaking windows, throwing objects at police and talking about burning down a local government building in downtown Portland, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said. The crowd had dispersed by about 11 p.m., KOIN TV reported.
The Portland Police Bureau said several people were given citations, but only one person who had an outstanding warrant from another matter was arrested.
The protesters gathered following the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse killed two people and injured another during a protest against police brutality in Wisconsin last year.
Protests have been held in several other U.S. cities into Saturday over the verdict, including New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
About 1,000 people marched through downtown Chicago Saturday afternoon, organized by Black Lives Matter Chicago and other local activist groups. According to the Chicago Tribune, protesters held signs that stated, “STOP WHITE SUPREMACY” and “WE’RE HITTING THE STREETS TO PROTEST THIS RACIST INJUSTICE SYSTEM” with a picture of Rittenhouse carrying a weapon.
Tanya Watkins, executive director of Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation, spoke at a rally in Federal Plaza before the march, according to the Tribune.
“While I am not surprised by yesterday’s verdict, I am tired. I am disappointed. I am enraged. … I have lost every ounce of faith in this justice system,” said Watkins, who is Black.
In North Carolina, dozens of people gathered Saturday near the state Capitol building to protest the verdict, the Raleigh News & Observer reported. Speakers led the crowd of roughly 75 people in chants of “No justice, no peace!” and “Abolish the police!” Police officers on motorcycle accompanied the protesters and blocked traffic for them as they marched down a street past bars and restaurants.
After the murder of George Floyd last year by police in Minneapolis, there were ongoing, often violent protest in Portland. Some activists complained that the police were heavy-handed in their response. Shortly after the Rittenhouse verdict, Portland Police Bureau Chief Chuck Lovell said that officers were working on plans for Friday night and the weekend.
By about 8:50 p.m., about 200 protesters had gathered in downtown Portland and blocked streets. By 9 p.m., windows were broken and doors of city facilities were damaged.
The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office designated the event a riot, and said in a news release Saturday that some demonstrators had thrown urine, water bottles and batteries at deputies.
Kenosha Protest Shootings Reaction
A worker pressure washes around a boarded-up bank behind a vandalized bus stop in Los Angeles, Saturday, Nov. 20, 2021. Protests broke out in Los Angeles and other cities across the U.S. following the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on all charges Friday after he testified that he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot two men in Kenosha, Wis., during a protest in 2020. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)More
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