Kyle Rittenhouse is being tried in Kenosha Wisconsin, and in a very unusual, very risky tragedy, he gave up his 5th Amendment rights to testify in his own trial. Apparently, the strategy was to humanize Rittenhouse by going step-by-step through his actions, and at a crucial time during friendly testimony exploring his actions of defending himself through during the riots, was overcome with a very emotional episode of PTSD.
But let’s be clear: It is usually a risky strategy to give testimony for your own case, as the prosecutor gets to interrogate you. Most prosecutors are seasoned to bring out different emotions and displays of intellectual disparities among amateur witnesses, and such testimony can sometimes be damning. However, as I watched his actions, it seemed to me he was defending himself period. The judge admonished the district attorney a few times it almost seemed like he was going to grant a mistrial which would have given him a clean slate. In fact, in a normal trial with little publicity more often than naught the judge would immediately throw out the case with prejudice, which means the defendant couldn’t ever be charged or retried on the same violations in the future. However, there are major political implications to this case, with Democrats seemingly looking for any reason to see Rittenhouse convicted, while Republicans want to see justice done.
Democrats had better watch their step in the future. They are opening themselves up for huge failure if they keep treating their constituents with disgust, and the Republicans will not only win elections, but absolutely control politics across the board from the local to the federal levels.