Special to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

Back in 2008 I published an article titled “The Rage Against Self-Defense” about a man in my hometown of Houston, named Joe Horn who was forced to act in self-defense when he confronted two would-be burglars that were attempting to rob his neighbors’ home. Even though a grand jury ruled that Horn had acted in self self-defense left-wing politicians and Social Justice advocates feigned outrage about the elderly man’s so-called act of vigilantism. At the time I feared that America was headed down the same destructive path as our English cousins where law-bidden citizens are stripped of their right to defend themselves while criminals are given the right to have a safe work environment. Fast forward thirteen-years later and it seems evident that my fears weren’t that far off the mark.

In 2012 we had George Zimmerman in Florida, who was forced to act in self-defense when a kid named Trayvon Martin decided straddle him MMA style and pound his head into the pavement. When Zimmerman shot and killed Martin, the backlash he experienced was far worse than anything that Joe Horn experienced four-years earlier. Despite the overwhelming evidence that proved Zimmerman had acted in self-defense, the local authorities were pressured by the left-wing mob to charge him with Second Degree Murder and Manslaughter. During the trial SJW’s and their cronies in the media went out of their way to slander George Zimmerman by portraying him as a bloodthirsty vigilante. MSNBC even went as far as to deceptively edit his 9-11 tape to make George “The White Hispanic” Zimmerman look like a racist. It should have come to no surprise to anybody who actually followed the case that Zimmerman was found not guilty on all counts. Of course, people on the left still repeat the same misinformation on the case so that they can justify their intense hatred of Zimmerman while venerating Martin as a martyr.

Not too long ago I published an article titled Even More Thoughts where I made a brief reference to a seventeen-year-old militia member in Kenosha, Wisconsin who found himself in trouble with the law when he was forced to defend himself against violent members of a left-wing mob. It was the same authorities who allowed these left-wing thugs to loot, smash and burn sections of the city to the ground that had the gall to charge Rittenhouse with murder and a series of other charges. Yet it seems like the worst attacks actually came from the mainstream media and left-wing commentators such as The Young Turks. The campaign of slander and libel against this young man made the media’s treatment of George Zimmerman seem like a lovefest. They painted him as a racist vigilante who just wanted to go on a shooting spree, despite the fact that only fifteen minutes after the fiasco occurred, there was viral footage that clearly showed he was acting in self-defense. The footage actually showed him running from one of the assailants before being forced to open fire. Though you had good old Ann “The Self-Hating Armenian” Kasparian of The Young Turks who actually said that the opposite was true. It was one of the rare times that I actually saw any member of The Young Turks team issue a retraction, even though it was only on one detail of the narrative. They pretty much doubled-down on all the other slanderous comments they made about Rittenhouse.

Luckily for the young man, the judge that was assigned to this case was someone that actually believed in due process and didn’t allow the prosecution to prejudice the jury by calling the assailants victims before the court even established whether Rittenhouse’s claims of self-defense were true. Rittenhouse haters would tell you that this Democratic judge was biased against BLM and even tried smear him as a racist because of a comment he made about Asian food. They also continue to make a fuss about Rittenhouse crossing state lines with a firearm. Never mind that taking a firearm across state lines isn’t necessarily illegal (depending what the laws are in each state). Though it became a moot point when it was revealed that the rifle was purchased by a friend of Rittenhouse who was a resident of Wisconsin.

His retractors also tell us that he had no business being in Kenosha, since he didn’t even live in the state. Never mind that he had friends, family and a job in that very city, unlike the outside agitators who were there to loot, burn and smash the property of hardworking business owners. They also try to paint Rittenhouse as a coldblooded vigilante that just wanted to shoot looters, despite the fact that he spent more of his time cleaning up graffiti, putting out fires and rendering first aid to those who were injured. Though this picture wouldn’t be complete without them trying to make Rittenhouse’s so-called victims look as innocent as possible. A few leftists even posted memorials for the two scumbags who died on social media, portraying them as peaceful protestors who did nothing to provoke the incident that led to their deaths. Anyone who saw the actual footage of the altercation, could clearly see that young militia man was not the aggressor. That is unless you think that putting out a trashcan fire is a sign of aggression. It‘s also worth pointing out that Joseph Rosenbaum, the man who instigated the entire conflict, was not a protestor but an ex-mental patient who suffered from bipolar disorder. Since he didn’t take his medication, it made him act both erratic and violent. This led to him chasing the young man who was doing nothing but putting out a fire. Any man who decides to chase somebody with an AR-style rifle through the streets isn’t playing with a full deck, so I can certainly see why the seventeen-year-old boy feared for his life. After he was forced to fire on Rosenbaum, a gang of thugs knocked him to the ground and one tried to beat him to death with a skateboard. Once Rittenhouse took out the assailant with the skateboard, Gaige Grosskreutz, who was illegally carrying handgun tried to fire at the young man, only to find himself wounded for his efforts.

Yet the facts don’t seem to matter to the left who has labeled him everything from a mass shooter to a terrorist. Never mind that the first man he killed in self-defense was a convicted pedophile and second had a record for domestic abuse. As the left tells it, you would have thought that he murdered innocent protestors who were doing nothing but exercising their First Amendment rights. It’s also worth pointing out again that the local authorities who were so determined to hang the kid out to dry, were among those who allowed the rioting and looting to take place in their city. Local officials told the police to standdown, showing no regard to the hardworking business owners losing their livelihoods, which is the reason why you had people roaming the streets with rifles in the first place. This is something that I have noticed about the left all along. They allow criminals to run amok victimizing innocent people and while doing everything in their ability prevent the law-biding from defending themselves.

The one upside is that Kyle Rittenhouse is handling this much better than George Zimmerman did. Instead of disappearing he has made several media appearances and pushing back against those who still insist on slandering his good name. There has even been talk of him suing certain outlets who have aided the defamation of his character. After the success that Rick Sandmann has in suing media outlets, I think Rittenhouse has good chance of succeeding in the same venture. If he decides to pursue this quest, I wish him all the luck.