Harvard professor says Rittenhouse should sue once acquitted: ‘Make the media accountable’
Dani Repass
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A Harvard Law professor on Saturday said Kyle Rittenhouse should be acquitted in his murder trial this week, then advised him to sue media organizations for smearing him.
“He should be acquitted,” professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz said. “If I were a juror, I would vote that there was reasonable doubt that he did act in self-defense, and then he’ll bring lawsuits and that’s the way to answer. I’ve sued CNN, the Convington [Catholic High School] people have sued CNN. You know, the idea is to make the media accountable for deliberate and willful lies, and that is consistent with the First Amendment.”
According to Dershowitz, Rittenhouse, who is on trial for killing two men and wounding a third during riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year, should walk free under the “reasonable doubt” standard that he acted in self-defense. The Harvard professor then tore into the media for its coverage of the trial, accusing them of attempting to abuse the justice system for political reasons.
“The bigger deal is that all of us civil libertarians, all the liberals, all the ACLU-types, The New Yorker, The New York Times, they all attack the judge for simply applying the Constitution,” Dershowitz said. “These phony civil libertarians couldn’t care less about due process, about free speech. All they want is due process for me, but not for thee. The New Yorker, that trashy magazine…already dubbed [Rittenhouse] without any evidence, the ‘American Vigilante.’”
Dershowitz was referring to The New Yorker’s article titled, “Kyle Rittenhouse, American Vigilante,” which alleges Rittenhouse may have been “among the Facebook users who had made such threats as ‘I have my suppressor on my AR, these fools won’t even know what hit them.’” Dershowitz continued to slam those who “are picking sides,” saying Rittenhouse’s trial has “partisan injustice.”
“People are picking sides, and they are picking on the judge because the judge has made some fair rulings under the Constitution. If the judge had made, with the same attitude, rulings in favor of the prosecution, the liberals, the left, The New York Times would be praising him to the sky. It’s so biased. We don’t have justice out there. We have partisan injustice,” Dershowitz said. Congressman Ayanna Presley (D-MA) seemed to prove his point, calling Rittenhouse a “white supremacist domestic terrorist” on Twitter after the incident took place.
“A 17 year old white supremacist domestic terrorist drove across state lines, armed with an AR 15. He shot and killed 2 people who had assembled to affirm the value, dignity, and worth of Black lives. Fix your damn headlines,” Presley wrote.
Closing arguments are expected to wrap up on Monday. A representative for Dershowitz did not respond to the Independent Chronicle’s request for comment.