California Highway Patrol
The Fall of Minneapolis
Kyle Rittenhouse
1. California Highway Patrol
If you haven’t noticed - many of these officer-involved-shootings (OIS) follow a predictable pattern. This is one of those cases.
Here is the formula:
Commit a crime.
Fight with police.
Attempt to “tase” an officer.
Officer responds with deadly force.
Last week he California Highway Patrol (CHP) responded to multiple calls of a man walking in westbound lanes of Interstate 105 (in south LA County).
A CHP officer arrived on scene and tried to convince the man to get off of the freeway. The man refused and a struggle ensued in the middle of the highway. During the struggle the man gained access to a Taser that he already had in his possession. The man pointed the Taser at the officer’s face. The officer responded with deadly force and fired his service weapon multiple times.
This OIS was objectively reasonable, within the law, and within any department use of force policy that I can imagine.
Police officers are “tased” in the police academy so that they know they effects - one being that during the “ride” there is no way to fight back. Therefore, in a situation like this - if the officer were effectively “tased” - the man could steal his gun and shoot him, bash his head in with a rock, get struck by a passing car, etc…
Still, the local media has called this an example of “excessive” force and the man’s family has called the death “unnecessary”.
I agree. This entire thing was “unnecessary”. It was unnecessary to walk on a highway, fight with police, and then threaten an officer with a Taser. 100% unnecessary.
2. The Fall of Minneapolis
The George Floyd case is tragic and interesting on a legal, political, and sociological level. There is no other case in the 25 years that I have been studying/working in law enforcement that has had this much systematic impact.
It is easy to get stuck on the “knee on the neck” theory.
It is equally as easy to get stuck on the “no sympathy for junkies” theory.
The truth of the matter is often lost in the complex grey matter here. Some segment of that is telling the story of what happened to the City of Minneapolis and the honorable men and women who have sworn to protect it.
When the Floyd incident occurred - Liz Collin was an anchor/journalist at WCCO in Minneapolis. Her husband (Bob Kroll) was the president of the Minneapolis Police Union. They became the target of anti-police maniacs who were looking for anyone to blame. Bob retired and Liz was forced out of the television station that she had worked at for fourteen years. Instead of going away - Liz has fought back in an impressive manner.
Liz has written a book called, “They’re Lying” and recently released a movie called, “The Fall of Minneapolis”. Over the last two weeks I have read and watched both. I highly recommend both. Entertaining, informative, and they capture the madness that was the city of Minneapolis post-George Floyd.
I still have questions about the actions of Derek Chauvin - that will be detailed in an upcoming article on the case. But, this book and movie are an important part of the historical record of this awful time in policing.
3. Kyle Rittenhouse
Kyle Rittenhouse has a book coming out called “Acquitted”. That has for some reason ignited outrage from the far-Left mob. Their hatred for Rittenhouse is outflanked only by their hatred for Derek Chauvin.
Quick recap:
Jacob Blake was shot by police officers in Kenosha, Wisconsin on August 23, 2020 when he arrived at the home of a woman whom he had previously sexually assaulted and had an Order of Protection against him.
When contacted by police Mr. Blake resisted arrest, fought with, and attacked officers. Mr. Blake also fought off a Taser deployment and knocked an officer to the ground. So, when Mr. Blake grabbed a knife - he was shot by police. The shooting was objectively reasonable and within the law.
Civil Rights Activist and attorney Ben Crump set the dishonest narrative early and did a press conference where he stated that Mr. Blake was “unarmed” and shot in the back by racist police officers.
This ignited riots in Kenosha. Businesses were being burned and the city destroyed.
Kyle Rittenhouse (who worked in Kenosha) went with a group of friends to “guard” a business that he had some loose connection to.
My opinion on this has remained the same:
Being on the streets of Kenosha that night was a bad idea. But, there is a vast moral difference between intending to set buildings on fire and intending to prevent buildings from being set on fire.
While on “patrol” Kyle Rittenhouse was attacked by three people. He shot all three. Two sustained fatal injuries (Joseph Rosenbaum 36 and Anthony Huber 26). Gaige Grosskreutz (26) survived.
Rittenhouse was arrested and prosecuted for first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, and two charges of first-degree recklessly endangering safety. He was acquitted of all charges by a jury.
If you subtract politics - this is a very simple legal case.
Kyle was attacked by three people and he responded with reasonable force.
Rosenbaum lunged for Rittenhouse’s weapon.
Huber tried to bash Rittenhouse in the head with a skateboard.
Grosskreutz pointed a gun at Rittenhouse.
Each “victim” was shot only once and no innocent bystanders were struck.
Despite those facts and an acquittal by a jury - those who hate Rittenhouse are back at it.
The Daily Kos dubbed him “Killer Kyle”.
Whoopie Goldberg said that he committed “murder”.
Twitter accounts with hundreds of thousands of followers have dedicated a significant amount of time to hating on Kyle Rittenhouse.
It is an odd rite of passage that liberal, middle aged men go through. The obligatory anti-Kyle Rittenhouse post. Their obsession is odd. And borderline creepy.
I am not sure how interesting the book will be, but if it pisses off people who love riots hate the idea of self-defense - then it is worth the purchase.
Liz Collin made an excellent documentary about the riots, the aftermath, and the long-lasting consequences that the city (as well as the nation at large) continues to suffer from.
That being said, however, I am of the opinion that Collin — whether deliberately or otherwise — apparently has conflated what MPD calls “Maximum Restraint Technique (MRT)” with what Derek Chauvin was actually doing.
I’m not convinced at all that Chauvin was applying a proper MRT which (if my memory serves) requires the use of a hobble — a proposal that was initially brought up by Officer Lane but rejected by Officer Thao, because the latter did not want to deal with the administrative headaches of having to call a sergeant to the scene (as required by policy).
Then there’s that one PowerPoint slide, the photo on which has been referenced repeatedly in this documentary and elsewhere as proof that Chauvin followed his training, even though it also contains verbiage on the left side that instructs officers to turn the subject over to the recovery position in order to alleviate risks of positional asphyxia. Such verbiage was ignored in Collin’s documentary, just as it was ignored by Chauvin on that fateful day (even after being told twice by Officer Kueng that he couldn’t find a pulse on Floyd — this is the part that troubles me the most).
(To be clear, I believe it’s entirely plausible that even if Chauvin and others did everything by the book on that day, Floyd could very well have still died regardless. But the reality is he did not in fact die in the backseat of a patrol car — and that’s why we’re here.)