Rittenhouse Verdict Emboldens White Violence
"Judge Bruce Schroeder’s actions and the verdict will further embolden white supremacist violence."
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 19, 2021
CONTACT: press@populardemocracy.org
** Wisconsin organizers and Black leaders at Center for Popular Democracy are available for interviews by phone, video, or in-person from Milwaukee, WI. To schedule, please reach out to press@populardemocracy.org. **
NEW YORK - The following is a statement from Jennifer Epps Addison, Wisconsin native and Co-Executive Director of Center for Popular Democracy, on the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse:
“Today we mourn. Today we are afraid. Afraid that tomorrow it will be our kids, our neighbors, our parents or us who are murdered without consequence.
“Our legal system was never meant to deliver justice -- it was built to uphold and enforce white supremacy and inflict violence on Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and marginalized communities.
“Judge Bruce Schroeder’s actions and the verdict will further embolden white supremacist violence. Every elected official who has failed to take action to reimagine our legal system -- from policing to courts -- has blood on their hands.
“Now, more than ever, we need to follow the lead of organizers in Kenosha and Wisconsin like Black Leaders Organizing Communities and Leaders Igniting Transformation. The jury’s verdict emboldens white supremacists, and it signals that this violence is welcome -- we will continue to organize and build a powerful multi-racial people’s movement to protect our communities and defeat White Supremacy.”
CPD recommends the following Wisconsin-based groups and activists on Twitter:
###
ABOUT THE CENTER FOR POPULAR DEMOCRACY
The Center for Popular Democracy is a national network of more than 50 community organizations dedicated to achieving racial and economic justice through local grassroots organizing. CPD trains and supports leadership, staff, and members to grow base-building organizations to scale and leverage that strength to win cutting-edge policy victories at the federal, state and local level.
