Kyle Rittenhouse, Facebook Hit With Federal Civil Lawsuit While Awaiting Trial For Kenosha Murders

It looks like the poster child of wingnuttia, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, charged with murdering two people and injuring a third at a Kenosha, Wisconsin protest, is going to be using the $400,000 raised for him online by a “Christian” website, for legal fees.  Rittenhouse is a named defendant in a federal law suit along with Facebook and two militia groups. WPR Radio:

The suit, filed Tuesday in the Eastern District of Wisconsin, claims Rittenhouse, the militia groups, the individuals and the platform they used to organize their patrols of Kenosha protests all violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional right to protest through intimidation, inflicted emotional distress and caused physical harm.

The complaint references conspiracy theories, and racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric that have been linked to right-wing extremist violence in other parts of the country, such as at the 2017 Charlottesville “Unite the Right” rally, and in online forums and groups.

“In our society, heavily armed groups of untrained men are free to possess ludicrous opinions about Hitler having admirable qualities, Black people being intellectually inferior to whites, or our government being controlled by Satan-worshipping pedophiles funded by a Jewish cabal,” the complaint reads. “However, when these beliefs turn into a conspiracy to deprive the rest of us of our constitutional guarantees through threats, fear, assault, violence, and murder, then the actions and coordination of these right wing militias become the subject matter of our law.

“We have an army. We do not need people playing army — particularly when their targets are engaged in the expression of fundamental rights,” it continues.

The suit seeks monetary damages to be determined and injunctive relief, including against Facebook, who violated its own policies against the encouragement of violence — or so it is alleged.

The determination of both the civil and criminal actions in this case could set legal precedents.