Police say the man accused of plowing into a Christmas parade in Wisconsin and killing six people was arrested in Union City earlier this year.
Police say Darrell E. Brooks, 39, drove his SUV through a parade in Waukesha last weekend. Five adults and an 8-year-old boy were killed and at least 60 other people were injured.
Brooks has been charged with five counts of intentional homicide, and prosecutors are expected to file a sixth charge.
A witness told police he heard Brooks hitting his girlfriend through the wall. The witness said he confronted Brooks, who then called the police and claimed the witness was harassing the couple.
Police were able to determine that Brooks was the aggressor and that his girlfriend had injuries consistent with domestic abuse.
Brooks was taken to the East Point Jail. It’s unclear what happened to the case after that or if Brooks was convicted of anything.
The New York Post did a deep dive on Brooks that found “his life of crime started 22 years ago when he was just 17 years old.” Among other charges, “in July 2020, he fired a gun at his nephew during a fight over a cellphone,” and police “found Brooks with a stolen Beretta 9mm handgun and a clear plastic baggie with three multi-colored methamphetamine pills inside.” Considering that Brooks was already a convicted felon, prohibited from possessing a firearm, you might think this incident would have resulted in a long prison sentence. Instead, “he was released in February 2021 on a $500 bail,” which is when he went to Georgia and was busted for beating his girlfriend in a motel about 10 miles from the Atlanta airport. With charges pending in Georgia — where officials apparently didn’t realize Brooks was wanted in Nevada for violating terms of his release as a convicted sex offender — Brooks returned to Milwaukee, where he soon committed further violence:
Brooks allegedly accosted the woman and knocked her cellphone out of her hand and then went after her in his Ford Escape when she fled.
He caught up with her at a BP gas station about a half mile from the motel and demanded she get in his car, court records allege. When she refused, he struck her in the face and then ran her over with his car, leaving the woman with “swelling to her lip and dry blood on her face” and “tire tracks on her left pants leg,” police said.
The ex-girlfriend later told cops that Brooks had allegedly threatened to kill her on multiple occasions, had previously tried to choke her and was jealous and controlling, according to police reports obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Brooks denied the allegations and suggested to police the woman made them up because she was drunk.
He ended up being charged with recklessly endangering safety, bail jumping, battery and disorderly conduct in the incident but was given an “inappropriately low” bail of $1,000, Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm later said, leaving him free to wreak havoc on the Christmas parade about three weeks later.
So here is the timeline:
July 2020: Fires gun at nephew in Milwaukee.
February 2021: Released on $500 bail.
May 2021: Arrested for battery in Georgia.
November 2, 2021: Runs over girlfriend in Milwaukee.
November 19, 2021: Released on $1,000 bail.
On the day of his murderous rampage, Nov. 22, was again engaged in domestic violence, attacking an ex-girlfriend in Waukesha. She was seen “running away from him with a black eye just moments before the carnage unfolded.” Before police could respond to that attack, Brooks had fled the scene, and ignored officers who tried to stop him as he plowed through the parade route, killing six people and injuring dozens more.
Police took their time before naming the “person of interest” who killed five people and injured dozens more when he plowed a red Ford SUV through a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, but the identity and criminal record of Darrell Brooks are extensively documented:
The man who was taken into custody in connection with the Waukesha Christmas parade tragedy told police that his name was Darrell Brooks Jr. when he was detained, and they found a Ford key on him, according to scanner audio obtained by Heavy.
Police squads were at a Milwaukee address used by Darrell Brooks Jr. after his name was mentioned on the scanner in connection with the Waukesha parade incident in which at least 40 people, including many children, were injured when a red Ford Escape plowed through the crowd. He complained of shoulder pain when taken into custody.
Heavy confirmed that two Milwaukee police squads were outside the home listed to Brooks on N. 19th St. in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Heavy also obtained audio from the scanner indicating Waukesha police obtained an ID in the name Darrell Brooks Jr. inside the red Ford Escape they recovered in connection with the Waukesha parade investigation. He also goes by the name Darrell E. Brooks Jr., and Darrell Edward Brooks, Jr. He is 39-years-old. He had prolific social media accounts, but some have already been deleted.
The City of Waukesha now says that five people are deceased and over 40 are injured. “However, these numbers may change as we collect additional information. Many people have self-transported to area hospitals. The Police Department has the person of interest in custody,” they wrote, without naming that person. . . . Darrell Brooks Jr. raps under the name MathBoi Fly. He had a YouTube channel with rap music videos, but it’s been deleted. A red SUV could be seen behind him in one of the videos . . .
Brooks has an extremely long criminal history including open cases.
Darrell E. Brooks Jr. of 19th Street has open charges filed November 5, 2021, in Milwaukee courts for resisting an officer (misdemeanor), felony bail jumping, second degree recklessly endangering safety (felony) with domestic abuse assessments, disorderly conduct and battery (both misdemeanors, also with domestic abuse assessments.)
He posted $1,000 cash bail on November 19, 2021.
That’s despite the fact he has another open felony case in Milwaukee County, from 2020.
That case is for second-degree recklessly endangering safety – felony with use of a dangerous weapon (two counts) and possessing firearm convicted of a felony (felony charge.) The case was filed in July 2020, but it remains pending. Milwaukee County courts is dealing with a major backlog in cases.
Just to interrupt here: Felon in possession of a firearm is a very serious crime, and the fact that he was turned loose on bail in such a case speaks volumes about the leniency — and disregard for public safety — in the criminal justice system. To continue:
In the above case, hearings were repeatedly adjourned. He requested a speedy trial, but the court tolled the time limits for that (this has occurred recently because of a two-year backlog, the chief judge has said, which she has attributed to COVID. The backlog also persists with jury trials, she said.)
In February 2021, with Judge David Feiss presiding, the court lowered his bail to $500, noting, “Due to reasons stated on the record, the court is unable to honor the speedy trial demand in this case. Defense bail motion argued and GRANTED by the Court. The Court lowered cash bail to $500.00.”
In June 2021, the court notes say, “Matter scheduled for Jury Trial. Parties are ready to proceed. Due to court congestion, Court is unable to hear jury trial at this time.”
The case continued, with some plea negotiations. “JusticePoint PreTrial Services Supervision/VIOLATION Report dated November 10, 2021; received and filed,” says a recent entry. There was a “further proceedings” on November 11, the last date.
He has these prior convictions:
Bail jumping (misdemeanor) and marijuana possession (misdemeanor).
Marijuana possession second plus offense (felony). 2011.
Obstruct an officer (misdemeanor). 2005 and 2003.
Marijuana possession (felony). 2002.
Substantial battery (felony). 1999.
Those are just his convictions in Wisconsin, however:
Darrell Edward Brooks, 39, who is accused of plowing into a Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin, was convicted of statutory sexual seduction in November of 2006.
Brooks was convicted of this crime in Sparks, Nevada.
He is a tier 2 offender, the second most serious class of sex offenders in the Nevada Sex Offender Registry.
Tier 2 offenders are registered for 25 years and have to personally check in with police once every 180 days.
The shamefaced Milwaukee District Attorney’s Office admitted on Monday it was ‘inappropriate’ for convicted felon Darrell Brooks to be allowed out of jail on a $1,000 bond three weeks ago after trying to run over his ex-girlfriend, as he was charged with five counts of murder for the lives he took at the Waukesha Christmas Parade on Sunday night. . . .
On Sunday he was fleeing the scene of a domestic dispute when he crashed into the crowds after smashing through safety barriers and breezing past cops. One officer tried to stop him by shooting at his car but he stopped because there were too many people around for him to safely fire his weapon.
Police had just arrived at the home that Brooks had fled when he plowed into the parade crowds, killing five adults. . . . The Waukesha Police Department have now arrested Brooks on five murder charges.
On November 2, he was arrested on domestic violence charges after trying to ‘run over’ his ex, the mother of his child, at a gas station. His bond was set at $1,000 and he posted it on November 11th.
On Monday morning, the Milwaukee County DA’s Office released a statement admitting it was ‘inappropriately low’ given his criminal history. They said they’d launched an internal review as to why he was able to get out on bond to commit more crimes. . . .
‘The bail recommendation in this case is not consistent with the approach of the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office toward matters involving violent crime, nor was it consistent with the risk assessment of the defendant prior to setting of bail.
‘This office is currently conducting an internal review of the decision to make the recent bail recommendation in this matter in order to determine the appropriate next steps,’ the statement said.
This is CYA bullshit. The district attorney in Milwaukee is a Soros-funded radical who bragged about eliminated cash bail. This is now the official policy of the Democratic Party — because cash bail allegedly has a “disparate impact” on the black community, criminals are turned loose and this policy is celebrated as “social justice.” Until one of the criminals runs over four or five dozen people, and then the DA’s official will issue a statement announcing an “internal review.”
And if you don’t like it, that makes you a white supremacist, and next thing you know, the FBI will be knocking on your door. This is Joe Biden’s America. This is what happens when you elect Democrats.
How many of the people who got run over by Darrell Brooks voted for Joe Biden? Do you think the survivors might regret their votes?
Protesters took to the streets of Brooklyn, Chicago, Oakland, and other cities following the not guilty verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.
After the verdict, hundreds of people took to the streets of Brooklyn, New York, to voice their frustration with the jury’s verdict.
The crowd gathered at Barclays Center in Brooklyn and reportedly chanted, “Say his name, George Floyd.”
(What? Kyle Rittenhouse had nothing to do with that.)
Progressive activists have tried incessantly to make the Rittenhouse trial about race, even though Rittenhouse and the three men he shot were all white.
In Chicago, dozens of protesters went to Federal Plaza to protest the verdict. They were reportedly carrying signs reading, “Kyle Will Kill Again,” “Workers United to Smash Fascism,” and “Reject Racist Vigilante Terror.”
(Literally “dozens.”)
The Chicago protesters blocked traffic on busy streets during rush hour to show their discontent with the trial’s outcome.
Protesters reportedly looted a Neiman Marcus luxury store and multiple other stores as the protests were happening. . . .
Protesters in Denver reportedly shouted, “fuck Kyle Rittenhouse” while marching down streets.
On the west coast, protesters gathered at a federal building in Oakland to protest the jury verdict. Signs in Oakland read, “Cops and fascists given license to kill in the USA.”
Got that? The cops shoot* a knife-wielding domestic abuser (Jacob Blake), then public authorities fail to prevent “mostly peaceful protests” from turning into riots and, when armed citizens defend themselves from violent riots, this makes the citizens “fascists,” “terrorists,” etc.
The Left’s rhetoric about “white supremacy,” “systemic racism,” etc., reflects a fundamental hostility to civilization, per se.
People who claimed to be traumatized by President Trump’s mean tweets had no such aversion to acts of violent destruction — far more harmful than anything Trump said — when this wanton vandalism could be justified, in their minds, as “racial justice” protests. But when a criminal suspect is shot by police, the justice of the officer’s action is ultimately determined by a jury, or by a duly-elected district attorney who decides whether or not to seek an indictment. The fact that a relative handful of highly publicized cases are controversial, involving circumstances that might seriously be considered unjust, does not mean what the Left says it means. It was not “systemic racism” that resulted in the death of George Floyd or Breonna Taylor; the actual details of both of those cases contradict the narrative promoted by BLM activists.
The facts of the shooting of Jacob Blake, which led to the riots in which Rittenhouse shot three people, likewise contradict the BLM narrative. Blake was violating a restraining order, menacing a woman whom he was accused of sexually assaulting, at a child’s birthday party. Blake was armed with a knife, and when police attempted to arrest him, he violently resisted arrest and was apparently attempting to steal a vehicle with three young children inside when the police officer shot him. No doubt a police training expert, viewing video of the incident frame-by-frame, would have some recommendations for how this outcome could have been avoided, but in the split-second life-or-death crisis in which the officer found himself involved, the shooting was legally justified, and a federal Justice Department review found no civil rights violation.
When the cop says, “You’re under arrest,” cooperate.
When the cop says, “Drop the knife,” drop the knife.
This is not complicated. You don’t need any Critical Race Theory seminars to teach you that resisting arrest is potentially dangerous.
A police officer never knows when a domestic disturbance call or even a simple traffic stop is going to turn into a life-or-death crisis. Given the many thousands of interactions between police and criminal suspects every week, only a tiny fraction of a single percent of those interactions get the kind of national media attention that Jacob Blake shooting got. In other words, the vast majority of police activity does not fit the narrative of “systemic racism” that the Left promotes. Unless . . .
Unless, that is, what the Left is really against is law enforcement, per se.
That’s what all this talk about “white supremacy” comes down to. What BLM would like us to believe, apparently, is that it is wrong to expect black people to follow the same laws that apply to other Americans.
“Equality,” in the Left’s view, requires a racial double-standard whereby cops are not allowed to arrest a suspect, if the suspect is black.
That's the new Zeroth Amendment: "No Black man need submit to arrest unless He's damn well in the mood to be arrested."
Steve Sailer’s sarcastic quip, in reference to the Jacob Blake case, gets to the heart of a lot of what BLM (and Democrats, and the media) are trying to argue in such cases. If your Heroic Martyr Victim got shot while resisting arrest, then isn’t your celebration of this criminal act really an argument in favor of resisting arrest? But if resisting arrest becomes routine in the black community, isn’t it likely that more black suspects will be shot by police? Oh, wait a minute . . .
By encouraging criminal activity — resisting arrest is a crime — what BLM is really trying to do is provoke more police shootings, which will lead to more riots, and thus more fundraising for BLM, etc.
This cynical “social justice” racket isn’t going to do a damned thing to improve the quality of life for black Americans, except for making millionaires of a few clever grifters like Patrice Cullors. And by obstructing law enforcement, BLM enables more widespread criminal activity in the black community, with the result that thousands of black people are killed in places like Chicago, Baltimore and Philadelphia.
The negative impact of BLM’s irresponsible rhetoric (amplified and endorsed by Democrats and the media) will not be limited to the black community, however. This brings up something that was called to my attention yesterday — immediately after the Rittenhouse verdict, CNN kept repeating the phrase “all-white jury,” as if this was somehow significant in a case where a white guy shot three other white guys.
Kenosha County, Wisconsin, is 87% white, 7% black — it’s not as if having an “all-white jury” is something unusual there, but CNN had to find some way to play the “race card,” because what other purpose would be served by their wildly distorted coverage? CNN never misses an opportunity to incite race riots, which are good for ratings, I guess.
The news media thrive on conflict, and when they produce coverage that functions to create conflict — CNN spent the summer of 2020 as a cheerleading squad for rioting mobs — responsible citizens have a duty to call out their media for their “fake news.”
When was the last time you were this upset about white folks getting shot?
"Congratulations to Kyle Rittenhouse for being found INNOCENT of all charges. It’s called being found NOT GUILTY—And by the way, if that’s not self defense, nothing is!" – President Donald J. Trump pic.twitter.com/D56gd2K56f
BREAKING NOW! Kenosha jury finds Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty.
UPDATE: My prediction had been for a hung jury, as I expected there would be two or three holdouts who would insist that Rittenhouse must be found guilty of something. It is therefore a pleasant surprise that the evidence — which clearly showed that Rittenhouse only fired his AR-15 in self-defense when attacked by rioters — was sufficient to overwhelm any such prejudice against the defendant. The acquittal is not necessarily a vindication of the idea that teenagers should be going to riots while armed with rifles, but it is is a triumph of the rule of law, and the constitutional right of trial by jury. Thank God.
UPDATE: Reactions elsewhere:
Rittenhouse's Acquittal Is A Great Moment, But It's An Atrocity Things Ever Came This Far https://t.co/mL3QeFafrM
A jury in Kenosha, Wisconsin, found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty of all charges Friday, bringing an end to his trial that gripped the nation. https://t.co/y2wjtaREm3
The important thing here is what was demonstrated, in terms of our constitutional rights as Americans. The Second Amendment exists for a reason, after all — the armed citizen deters aggression. In a situation such as the Kenosha riots, where violent chaos had overwhelmed the ability of police to keep the peace, Rittenhouse was part of a spontaneously organized group of men who showed up to protect life and property. Rittenhouse was attacked by the deranged criminal JoJo Rosenbaum, and shot Rosenbaum in self-defense. Each subsequent shooting was part of a rapid and confusing situation that developed amid the riot. Public authorities in Wisconsin, who failed to maintain order, are the real villains in this story; the attempt by prosecutors to make Rittenhouse a scapegoat was thwarted by a jury of 12. God bless America!
My prediction of a hung jury in the Kyle Rittenhouse case is looking better after the jury failed to reach a verdict in their second day of deliberations. The jury asked the judge Wednesday to review surveillance drone video of the shooting incident, a request that might be interpreted several different ways. My theory, however, is that a majority of the jurors want to acquit Rittenhouse, but are deadlocked — probably 10-2 or 9-3 — because a few jurors are adamant that Rittenhouse can’t be allowed to get off scot-free. He must be found guilty of something, these holdouts believe, because how is it that a 17-year-old can just walk around with an AR-15 and shoot anybody who causes him trouble?
That’s my theory, anyway, and if I’m right, the reason they wanted to review the drone video was because, according to the prosecution, this video shows that Rittenhouse “provoked” the attacks against him by pointing his rifle at people. The defense denies this, and has moved for a mistrial because the prosecution gave them a low-quality “compressed” version of the video file, rather than the high-resolution version the prosecution showed the jury. While I doubt the judge will declare a mistrial over this issue, the defense is establishing the basis of an appeal, in case the jury returns a guilty verdict — which I think they won’t.
It’s either going to be an acquittal or a hung jury, as I see it, because the evidence so clearly shows Rittenhouse fired in self-defense in each of the three cases — killing the deranged criminal JoJo Rosenbaum, killing skateboard punk Anthony Huber, and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz, who was pointing a Glock pistol at Rittenhouse. By the way, they have identified “Jump Kick Man,” the mystery figure who attacked Rittenhouse right before Huber got shot. “Jump Kick Man” is a convicted felon with a lengthy rap sheet. Rittenhouse fired two shots at him but unfortunately missed, and it was this incident that may have encouraged Huber’s subsequent attack on Rittenhouse. “Jump Kick Man” is reportedly behind bars now, because of a probation violation, but his involvement in the case indicates what I’ve said all along — these rioting mobs weren’t composed of “social justice” idealists, but rather criminal scum looking to engage in mayhem. Democrats, in other words.
So now everybody’s waiting for a verdict, and there may never be a verdict, because some holdout jurors are insisting that Rittenhouse be found guilty of something — anything — rather than be acquitted, and never mind the clear evidence of self-defense.
Dana Loesch spanked David French for his idiotic attack on “open carry” of firearms. I try to ignore French — it’s painful even to acknowledge his existence — but somebody had to school him, so thanks to Dana for doing this job. However, I will cede French’s point that most of Rittenhouse’s defenders would never do what Rittenhouse did, or want their kids to do it. Like, if one of my sons ever called me to ask, “Should I take my AR-15 to the riot?” I’d be like, “Hell, no! Have you lost your mind?”
But whether an activity is advisable is a different question than whether it’s legal, and there are a lot of things that are legal to do which I avoid and would also advise my children to avoid. So while I try to stay away from riots, and have never brandished a carbine at anyone, that doesn’t mean it should be illegal to brandish a carbine during a riot. And when we consider the result of Rittenhouse’s (arguably foolish) decision, it’s not as if it were entirely bad. At the very least, we should all be grateful that convicted child rapist JoJo Rosenbaum is dead.
This disturbing report from Jack Posobiec (via Legal Insurrection, tipped from a commenter in today’s earlier post) shows exactly what can be expected when the media engages in deliberate misrepresentation of criminal cases. We live in an era of neo-Stalinism, where The Party organizes show trials preceded by propaganda that demonizes the accused as an “enemy of the people” (vrag naroda).
People can be taught to hate a person they never met if, as in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, they are fed a controlled diet of lies and distortions, intended to portray someone in the worst possible light. There are people on the Left, cocooned inside the media echo chamber of hate propaganda, who sincerely believe that Rittenhouse is a sort of right-wing assassin, who went to Kenosha to kill “racial justice” protesters. This is the narrative of the Rittenhouse case created by CNN and MNSBC, and amplified by every propaganda organ of The Party.
Did I mention that actual Communists are in Kenosha?
“We ready for change” chants from a group of Revcom (Revolutionary Communist Party) demonstrators outside the courthouse this afternoon #Kenoshapic.twitter.com/5rUcRcYRfE
Kyle Rittenhouse should be acquitted, but he won’t be, because there are almost certainly two or three jury members in Kenosha who will vote for conviction no matter what the law or the evidence may be. Recall that it was Democratic voters who rioted in Kenosha, unleashing three nights of vandalism and arson because domestic abuser Jacob Blake got shot by a cop while violently resisting arrest. If you think it’s a bad thing for cops to shoot violent criminals, and if you think torching a used-car lot is an appropriate form of “peaceful protest,” you’re obviously a Democratic voter — the Kenosha riot was a Joe Biden campaign rally.
“This is case-closed self-defense. Democrats allow mob violence to rule the streets. Americans have the right to defend themselves.”
That’s what I said the day after the shooting, and I haven’t changed my mind, but the pro-riot/anti-police Democrats haven’t changed their minds either and, if there are just two or three Democrats on the Rittenhouse jury, that will be enough to block a “not guilty” verdict.
“Why did President Biden suggest that Kyle Rittenhouse on trial in Kenosha is a white supremacist?” Fox News’s Peter Doocey asked the press secretary this week during a news conference.
Psaki let out a loud, long sigh, as if it’s tiresome to be asked about an issue the Biden team previously was very eager to discuss.
“What I’m not going to speak to right now is anything about an ongoing trial, nor the president’s past comments,” responded Psaki. “What I can reiterate for you is the president’s view that we shouldn’t have, broadly speaking, vigilantes patrolling our communities with assault weapons. We shouldn’t have opportunists corrupting peaceful protests by rioting and burning down the communities they claim to represent anywhere in the country.”
The Biden campaign tweeted a video on Sept. 30, 2020, with the accompanying caption, “There’s no other way to put it: the President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage last night.” The video includes images of Rittenhouse taken on the night of the riots.
(Hat-tip: Ed Driscoll at Instapundit.) The prosecution of this case was a circus sideshow from start to finish, and if you wonder why crime is rampant in America’s cities, just think of how much effort went into prosecuting Kyle Rittenhouse, and how little effort — in fact, no effort at all — Kenosha devoted to keeping the dangerous criminal JoJo Rosenbaum behind bars. If Rosenbaum had been in jail, where he belonged, nobody would have gotten shot that night, but Kenosha turned Rosenbaum loose and, as Tucker Carlson said, JoJo “died as he had lived, trying to touch an unwilling minor.” I’m glad he’s dead.
Everybody is now talking about the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, and the judge’s “don’t get brazen with me” eruption at the prosecutor, but there is a larger story that is being overlooked — namely, the media’s role in bringing about this politically motivated prosecution which they are now misreporting to their audiences. After watching CNN (so you don’t have to) on Tuesday, I turned the TV Wednesday to MSNBC and was struck by the fact that nowhere in their commentary did they mention that Joseph “JoJo” Rosenbaum was a convicted child rapist who had just been released from a psychiatric ward the day he was killed in the Kenosha riot.
This is the most important fact in the whole case.
Rosenbaum was a hardened criminal who spent more than a decade in Arizona prisons. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and after he showed up on the third night of rioting in downtown Kenosha, immediately confronted the armed men guarding the used car lot.
Now that it is confirmed Joseph Rosenbaum was one of the people shot and killed by alleged gunman Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, I filmed him earlier in the night taunting the armed civilians, saying, "Shoot me, n***a." pic.twitter.com/Nn2encm78Y
It was, of course, Andy Ngo who first reported Rosenbaum’s sex offender status, and Ngo further reported that both of the other two rioters shot by Kyle Rittenhouse also had criminal records. Anthony Huber, 26, who attacked Rittenhouse with a skateboard and was fatally shot, “has a criminal history that includes charges of battery & repeat domestic abuse,” Ngo reported. Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, who was seen on video pointing a pistol at Rittenhouse before being wounded in the arm, is “a member of the People’s Revolution Movement,” Ngo reported, and “has a criminal record that includes being intoxicated & armed w/a gun.”
Now, let’s ask what should be an obvious question: What are the odds that a guy opens fire at a mass gathering and all three of the people he shoots turn out to have criminal records? Doesn’t this tell you something about who is engaging in these “mostly peaceful” protests?
These facts were known, and widely reported in local media, in addition to conservative web sites. But if all you know about the news is what you get from CNN and MSNBC, you don’t know these things.
Perhaps the media think they are justified in ignoring Rosenbaum’s heinous criminal history because they don’t want to “blame the victim” — but JoJo Rosenbaum was the aggressor in this incident.
That’s crucial to understanding what Kyle Rittenhouse did, but social media companies have joined the effort to suppress this crucial fact, banning anyone who defends Rittenhouse. In a now-banned YouTube video from August 2020, analyzing the then-available evidence, one commentator explained how Rosenbaum got himself shot to death:
“That’s the ultimate ‘play a stupid game, win a stupid prize.’ You’re running, chasing somebody down. The person you’re chasing has a rifle. What did you expect?”
Everything we’ve learned about the case since then only confirms the verdict I delivered at the time: “Nobody would have gotten shot had it not been for the aggressive stupidity of convicted sex offender JoJo Rosenbaum. Once he had collected his stupid prize, the rest of the rioting mob decided they should join in on the stupid game of chasing the guy with the rifle.” Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz didn’t know what had happened (i.e., that Rittenhouse had shot Rosenbaum in self-defense) and chased Rittenhouse in the belief that the teenager was attempting to flee, when in fact Rittenhouse was trying to get back to where the police were. This all occurred during a breakdown of law and order, a riot in which Huber and Grosskreutz were participants, which had overwhelmed the ability of police in Kenosha. There were no police in the vicinity of the intersection of Sheridan Road and 63rd Street, where the criminal maniac Rosenbaum attacked Rittenhouse.
This morning, I turned the TV over to MSNBC and Morning Joe is full of hand-wringing about the prosecution’s failure in the case — they are literally trying to play the race card, saying that Rittenhouse would have been treated differently if he were black. But there was no element of race in the case — all three people who got shot by Rittenhouse were white, and in each incident, Rittenhouse fired in self-defense. In America, everybody has the right of armed self-defense; it’s in the Constitution and, while MSNBC audiences may not realize it, black defendants are often acquitted (or never face charges) in similar cases.
If I’ve got a gun, and you get shot after you attack me, it doesn’t matter that you were unarmed in the attack. That’s how the Second Amendment right to bear arms helps to prevent violence. You’re less likely to be assaulted if your would-be attacker has to consider the possibility that his attack may result in his own death. What happened in Kenosha, however, was that JoJo Rosenbaum — who, I remind you, had just gotten out of a psych ward that morning — did not behave as any sane person would behave. Like, if you or I happened to find ourselves in the middle of a riot, our first impulse would be to get someplace safe. If, during this hypothetical scenario, we encountered someone with an AR-15, the last thing we would have done (because were are not crazy) would be to shout obscene threats, charge after them, and try to grab their rifle.
Rosenbaum’s fiancée, Kariann Swart, testified Friday that Rosenbaum had been released from a hospital the day of his death, and was dropped off in Downtown Kenosha. Although it is not being shared with the jury, Rosenbaum had been in the hospital for mental health treatment after a suicide attempt. . . .
In her testimony, Swart said Rosenbaum walked to the hotel where she was staying. The couple had been homeless during portions of their relationship, at one point living in a tent, but had recently been staying in a hotel room. She estimated it would have taken Rosenbaum an hour to walk from the transit center where he had been dropped off by hospital personnel to her hotel. . . .
“We were talking about things we needed to work on in our relationship.” She said he seemed excited and happy, and was talking about changes he wanted to make in his life. “When he left he said he would see me in the morning.”
Not shared with the jury was why Rosenbaum, who had bipolar disorder, was not able to stay with Swart. He was out on bond for domestic battery, and had a no contact order with Swart. She told him to stay away from the area where there had been rioting.
“I did explain to him that things had gotten bad the last few days because he had not been in town the last few days and I did tell him explicitly not to go downtown,” Swart said.
“He was out on bond for domestic battery.”
Do you think anyone watching CNN or MSNBC knows any of this? Certainly, they’re not going to get it from CNN or MSNBC. As I have previously said, nobody would have gotten shot that night if not for Rosenbaum’s deranged behavior. Rosenbaum was out on bond for beating his girlfriend, and violated a no-contact order by going to see her after he got out of the psych ward. She “explicitly” warned him to stay away from the riot downtown, but JoJo went there anyway.
No one watching coverage of the Rittenhouse trial on MSNBC or CNN is going to learn these important facts about Rosenbaum, which are being excluded from the courtroom because they are not directly relevant to the legal question of Rittenhouse’s guilt or innocence. But if the jury is not allowed to hear testimony on these matters — Rittenhouse didn’t know anything about Rosenbaum, and therefore this could not have been a factor in his decision to pull the trigger — it is certainly crucial to understanding the context of what happened that night.
The same authorities who allowed “mostly peaceful protesters” to take over the streets of Kenosha — the shootings happened on the third night of riots in the city — were also responsible for a criminal justice system that failed to keep Joseph Rosenbaum behind bars. For that matter, the pretext for this riot, the Kenosha police shooting of Jacob Blake, was further evidence of systemic failure by the authorities:
The cops involved in the shooting of Jacob Blake — which touched off a fresh wave of angry, anti-police sentiment across the country — were attempting to arrest him for violating a restraining order stemming from an alleged sexual assault, The Post has learned.
Blake, 29, was forbidden from going to the Kenosha home of his alleged victim from the May 3 incident, and police were dispatched Sunday following a 911 call saying he was there.
The responding officers were aware he had an open warrant for felony sexual assault, according to dispatch records and the Kenosha Professional Police Association, which released a statement on the incident on Friday.
Why wasn’t Jacob Blake already behind bars? If we are to take liberals seriously when they talk about “violence against women,” shouldn’t something be done about the way perpetrators like Jacob Blake are being turned loose to terrorize their victims? But instead, now we have liberals implicitly arguing for a catch-and-release policy for domestic abusers, and demonizing cops as “racist” because one of the perps got shot.
The reason liberals are able to engage in such self-contradictory beliefs — violence against women must be punished, but don’t keep domesetic abusers in jail or send cops after them, if they happen to be black — is because the mainstream media won’t point out the contradictions and, in many cases, the media refuse to even acknowledge the relevant facts.
Viewers of CNN and MSNBC are never confronted with evidence or logic that would contradict the preferred liberal narrative of events. Joe Scarborough this morning was ranting about Rittenhouse being “aggressive,” simply because the kid was carrying a rifle, as if firearms possession does not deter aggression. The entire rationale of the Second Amendment — the ability of armed citizens to preserve the peace — was central to the events in Kenosha. The armed citizen not only is able to defend himself as an individual, but this ability also extends protection to others, by deterring would-be aggressors. Why do you think burglars and thieves generally avoid rural areas of “red” America?
In rural America, nearly every homeowner has firearms, and the thief from Baltimore would be a fool to seek victims in Carroll County. The violent crime rate in Baltimore is 18.76 (per thousand residents) compared to 3.76 in Westminster, the Carroll County seat.
The deterrence effect of firearms possession is very easy to understand — criminals prefer unarmed victims — which is why JoJo Rosenbaum’s mental health issues and criminal record are crucial to explaining what happened in Kenosha. Rosenbaum clearly saw Rittenhouse was armed, but evidently underestimated Rittenhouse’s ability to use his weapon effectively. Oops! Too bad for you, JoJo. You guessed wrong.
CNN and MSNBC viewers will not be informed about this essential context, because the Democrats who run those networks don’t want their audiences to be fully informed. Whenever facts contradict the liberal narrative, the facts will be ignored. Sic semper hoc.
Is it any wonder that CNN and MSNBC are losing the ratings contest?
