David Hancock, a spokesman for Kyle Rittenhouse, said Friday that the Rittenhouse family is “relieved” over the not guilty verdict on all counts, but he added that there are “no winners” and “nobody is spiking a football.”
Hancock emphasized that Rittenhouse has been “defamed” over the past year and noted the two people who were fatally shot when Rittenhouse was defending himself on August 25, 2020, in Kenosha.
The Rittenhouse family felt “relief” when the verdict was called, Hancock told the press outside the courthouse Friday. “It’s been a long road, and we believe that this was the right verdict, and we believe that the length of time (the jury was deliberating) was the jury being very careful and reading the instructions and looking over the evidence,” he said.
“There’s no spiking a football,” Hancock continued, “two people did lose their lives. There [were] a lot of things that infected this case, like politics, that sent it off the rails really early on. And so, there are no winners.”
“Kyle, now, gets to live his life as a free young man, an innocent young man, which he is,” the spokesman said. “But at the end of the day, I think there are no winners.”
Hancock called the verdict an “inflection point for this country” and urged Americans to “try to bridge the divide right now and try to come together.”
Rittenhouse was charged with fatally shooting two men and injuring a third while defending himself during a riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin, sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, who was allegedly reaching for a knife when he was shot.
The teen was facing life in prison with no chance at parole.
When the verdict was read, Rittenhouse became overcome with emotion and collapsed to his seat. His mother Wendy Rittenhouse and his two sisters, who were sitting behind him, cried too. Hancock sat beside Wendy.
At the time Hancock spoke to reporters outside the courthouse, he said he had not personally spoken to Rittenhouse since the verdict. The teen had to be “immediately” removed from the courthouse through a back exit for his own safety, the family spokesman said.
Defense attorney Mark Richards revealed Friday that Rittenhouse will likely have to leave his hometown due to the overwhelming number of threats he’s received.
“He has to get on with his life, the best he can,” Richards told reporters outside the courthouse. “I don’t think he’ll continue to live in this area; I think it’s too dangerous. He’s had 24-hour security since this happened. We’re thankful that the judge protected his address.”
“Everybody in this case — and when I say that, I mean prosecution and defense — to me, it’s scary how many death threats we’ve gotten,” the attorney added. Richards said he had to stop answering his phone after receiving numerous death threats in a row.
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Source: Dailywire
