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The Current Situation

The Trump- and cop-worshipping high school dropout who crossed state lines and shot and killed two people with a gun that was illegal for him to carry in the open

Condensed from two Tweets by Randy Bruce (@IronStache). Tap to see the source.

What happened

VICE News: A 17-Year-Old Aspiring Cop Has Been Charged With Murder In Kenosha

A 17-year-old aspiring cop has been arrested and charged with first-degree murder for his alleged role in a shooting during a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday night that left two dead and one injured.

The suspect was identified as Kyle Rittenhouse, of Lake County, Illinois. Prosecutors in Lake County filed the charges at noon Wednesday, and labelled him a fugitive who “fled the state of Wisconsin with intent to avoid prosecution for that offense.”

The police were practically aiding and abetting him:

Police interacted with the alleged gunman at various locations in Kenosha throughout the night. In one video, Rittenhouse is seen chatting with police who gave him a bottle of water and thanked him for being there.

Here’s the video, which shows Rittenhouse walking with the police, and the police handing out water to armed vigilantes:

There’s more in this story from The Journal Times: Police in Kenosha shared water, said they ‘appreciate’ armed group before two killed.

Not long before Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old from Illinois who was with a self-described “local militia” throughout Tuesday night’s deadly protests, allegedly killed two people and injured a third with gunfire, video shows law enforcement giving Rittenhouse water and telling his group “We appreciate you guys, we really do.”

Later in that article:

Another video shows a person with the group saying that, earlier in the night, police had told them “We’re going to push them by you so you can deal with them.”

Here’s the video:

Here’s another video with Rittenhouse prior to his shooting and killing two people, identifying himself as “local militia” despite having come from not just out of town, but out of state:

Here’s a video of Rittenhouse in an interview with The Daily Caller’s Richie McGinnis, prior to the shooting:

If you thought I was engaging in hyperbole when I wrote earlier that the police were “aiding and abetting” Rittenhouse, you need to see the following:

From Slate:

“Persons who were out after the curfew became engaged in some type of disturbance, and persons were shot. Everybody involved was out after the curfew. I’m not going to make a great deal of that, but the point is the curfew is in place to protect. Had persons not been out involved in violation of that, perhaps the situation that unfolded would not have happened.”

You need to remember that the protests are taking place because an office under his charge shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back as his children watched.

The victims

The following is taken from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article titled What we know about the victims of the Kenosha protest shooting that killed two men and injured another:

Anthony Huber, 26 of Silver Lake

Friends described Huber as a happy and laid-back guy who loved to skateboard.

“He was always a really sweet person. Always had a smile on his face,” said Max Seebeck, who grew up skateboarding with Huber in Kenosha.

Tim Kramer, 26, said he had known Huber since they were students at Lincoln Middle School in Kenosha.

“He was always really friendly. He got along with everybody. He was a class-clown-type of guy. He loved skateboarding. It’s been a big part of his life.”

Kramer said he had not seen Huber in recent years but remembered him as having a gentle nature.

One Facebook account said Huber was running at Kyle Rittenhouse, the teen accused in the killings, with his skateboard when he was shot.

“I heard he was trying to save somebody from being shot,” said Seebeck.

Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha

According to social media posts from friends and family, Rosenbaum is a Texas native. He moved to Kenosha within the last year.

Rosenbaum was shot in the head, a friend said.

He leaves behind a fiancée and a young daughter.

Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, of West Allis

Grosskreutz was shot in the arm and is expected to survive.

Grosskreutz was in Kenosha on Tuesday with the Milwaukee-based social justice group the People’s Revolution Movement, spokeswoman Bethany Crevensten said.

She said Grosskreutz was recuperating in a local hospital and was not available to speak.

She said the entire group of about 25 protesters was attacked Tuesday. She said their tires were slashed and Kenosha officials towed them, so owners were left stranded in the city.

Grosskreutz had volunteered as a medic at Black Lives Matter protests across Milwaukee this summer, according to WTMJ-TV.

The shooter: He seems nice

Kyle Rittenhouse, from his Facebook account. OF COURSE he’s wearing 5.11 clothing, the unofficial official Angry White Guy Who Wants To Be “Tacticool” clothing store.
Indoctrination begins at home. Kyle and his mom, from Facebook.

And OF COURSE he was front row at a Trump rally…

Kyle Rittenhouse (circled) in the front row of a “law and order” rally held by guy who’s broken a helluva lot of laws.

A spokesperson was quick to make the standard statement: “This individual had nothing to do with our campaign.”

In Rittenhouse’s favor is the fact that he’s a big Trump fan — big enough that he might get a pardon.

The terrible people rushing to his defense

It didn’t take long for the host of the Frozen Dinner Heir White Power Hour, sensing a kindred spirit, to side with the little turd:

(By the way, it’s true: Tucker Swanson McNear Carlson’s stepmother is Patricia Caroline Swanson, who is an heiress to Swanson Enterprises, as in the company that makes “Hungry Man” frozen dinners.)

In an attempt to be worse than Tucker, if such a thing is possible, Ann Coulter tweeted that she wanted Rittenhouse as her president.

More links

These are roughly the same laws that apply in the Cantina from the original “Star Wars” film.
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The Current Situation

Sheriff’s morbid yet practical suggestion for people staying put during Hurricane Laura

CNN quotes the Vermilion Parish Sheriff’s Office’s grim but practical suggestion for people in the path of Hurricane Laura who aren’t evacuating:

Those choosing to stay and face this very dangerous storm must understand that rescue efforts cannot and will not begin until after storm and surge has passed and it is safe to do so.

Please evacuate, and if you choose to stay and we can’t get to you, write your name, address, social security number and next of kin and put it a Ziploc bag in your pocket. Praying that it does not come to this.

They wisely stopped at that point and left it to people to deduce why you should such waterproof ID on your person.

Recommended reading

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The Current Situation

COVID-19 killed 60X the Americans that 9/11 did, and nearly 60% of Republicans find that number “acceptable”

Tap to view at full size.

From YouGov:

A majority of registered Republican voters (57%) say the number of fatalities from coronavirus is acceptable, according to a CBS News/YouGov Poll released on Sunday. At the time the survey was fielded, there were 170,000 coronavirus fatalities and more than 5.5 million cases confirmed in the United States.

About seven in 10 Americans (69%) say the number of COVID-19 deaths in America is unacceptable — a sentiment reflected among Independents (69%) and Democrats (90%). About two in five Republicans (43%) say the fatalities are unacceptable.

64% — that’s almost two thirds — of Republicans surveyed believe that the number of fatalities is actually lower than what’s being reported. No wonder we’re repeating 1918’s mistakes.

Remember this when you vote.

Recommended reading

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The More You Know...

Technically, a “buttload” is an actual unit of measure

For more information:

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America The Current Situation

The Republican platform: More of the same, including the lack of attention to detail

“RESOVLVED [sic],” the resolution reads, complete with a sloppy typo that would’ve been caught by an attentive proofreader or even a word processor from the previous millennium, “That the 2020 Republican National Convention will adjourn without adopting a new platform until the 2024 Republican National Convention…”

In short, they say they’re doing a great job, they’d like four more years of doing said great job with Trump nominally at the helm.

This election’s no longer a referendum on liberal vs. conservative — it’s been reduced to a choice between semi-competence and a toxic, self-serving, half-assed autocratic cult of personality.

Further reading

 

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Internet Finds

File under “Funny because it’s true”

It could also mean that your dad’s “legitimate business” had a body count.

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Accordion, Instrument of the Gods The Current Situation

Okay, you can stop sending me this meme now.