Vigilante? Militia? Confusion And Politics Shape How Shooting Suspect Is Labeled
Minds are made up about Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old gunman charged in the killing of two protesters in Kenosha, Wis. Graphic amateur video of the chaotic scene and early reports from authorities tell a partial story, and politics fills in the blanks.
On the left, the suspect is portrayed as the embodiment of today's domestic terrorism threat: A cop-idolizing wannabe militiaman who allegedly traveled across state lines to confront protesters with a gun he was not legally allowed to possess. On the right, the teen's actions instantly were justified as self-defense, the natural end to "Democrat cities" letting radical leftists maraud through the streets.
Extremism researchers say they've watched with alarm as misinformation, sloppy labeling and political: the self-styled vigilante.
