kenosha-rittenhouse-verdictMADISON - I feel like I’ve been kicked in the gut, and you probably do, too, so I wanted to share with you my statement on the Rittenhouse verdict:

“This appalling verdict is a green light for white vigilante violence. It is yet another sign that there is no accountability in America, and no respect for the lives of people in the anti-racist camp. Look no further than the closing statement of Rittenhouse’s attorney, Mark Richards, who “I’m glad he shot Rosenbaum.” That is sickening! And so is this verdict. Rittenhouse will become even more of a hero to the far right. And there will be more Rittenhouses to come. The jury has sowed the wind, and the harvest will not be pretty.”

It may be open season on protesters now.

trump-insurgents-enterI’m deeply, deeply concerned that we’re headed toward a kind of civil war. Yesterday, while I was driving up to Wautoma to give a talk, I listened to rightwing talk radio, and they were already lionizing Rittenhouse, mocking any anti-racist protester in the vilest terms, and dismissing all liberals as idiots and fools.

And I’m reminded of the recent hideous comment by the audience member at the rightwing Turning Point USA conference who stood up and said, “When do we get to use our guns? How many elections are they going to steal before we kill these people.”

The Rittenhouse verdict is a spur to all those who want to go out and start using their guns against Black Lives Matter protesters or liberals in general, for that matter.

To counteract this threat, we need to be courageous. We need to protest nonviolently against this verdict despite the threats, we need to call out racism wherever we see it, and we need to try to reach two or three people in our lives who don’t always agree with us but are otherwise decent people and try to draw them away from the lures of the far right.

The fate of our democracy depends on us!

Best,

matt-rothschild-2018

Matt Rothschild
Executive Director
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it