WENDY MURPHY: Facts over feelings in Kyle Rittenhouse verdict: He was acting in self-defense. “When Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and injured Gaige Grosskreutz, he was acting in self-defense. So says a jury from Kenosha, Wis., and their verdict is correct because that’s what the facts showed. . . . Prosecutors said Rittenhouse was guilty of murder because he was the aggressor, but video evidence showed that Rittenhouse was leaving the area before he shot any bullets, and that he only started shooting when Rosenbaum and others started chasing him. Rosenbaum lunged at Rittenhouse and grabbed his gun. Rittenhouse said he shot Rosenbaum to stop him. Video evidence also showed that Rittenhouse shot Huber only after Huber started hitting him in the head — and tried to take his gun. Grosskreutz, who was armed, also put his hand on Rittenhouse’s gun before he was shot.”

And “it’s not that the victims deserved to be shot.” Actually, on these facts, I think they kinda did.

Of course, the real responsibility is that of politicians and law enforcement who let armed lefty thugs rampage at will in the streets, necessitating self-defense by people who had every right to expect the government to stand between them and the thugs. This is malfeasance, and in a just world those officials would be on trial.

If you don’t want people taking guns into scenes of civil unrest, then don’t pull police out and leave citizens to fend for themselves in scenes of civil unrest.