--- title: The Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict Makes Us All Less Safe description: The Rittenhouse verdict shows that when people take the law into their own hands, we are all less safe. canonical: https://time.com/6122142/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict/ author: Barbara McQuade article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2021-11-19T22:54:42.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-14T09:17:01.135Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict Makes Us All Less Safe og:description: The Rittenhouse verdict shows that when people take the law into their own hands, we are all less safe. og:url: https://time.com/6122142/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt766eb9bb419c484c/698a1ff04ee26218bd319a0c/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: kyle-rittenhouse-verdict og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict Makes Us All Less Safe twitter:description: The Rittenhouse verdict shows that when people take the law into their own hands, we are all less safe. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt766eb9bb419c484c/698a1ff04ee26218bd319a0c/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 video:duration: 01:27 video:published: 2021-11-19 section: politics topics: criminal trial, jury verdict, not guilty verdict, Wisconsin court, jury deliberation, unanimous verdict, court proceedings genre: news, court coverage tones: formal, procedural, matter-of-fact, appreciative emotions: tension (medium), relief (low), gratitude (low) sentiment: neutral audience: general news readers, legal observers, people following the Rittenhouse case, civic-minded viewers people: Kyle H. Rittenhouse, Joseph Rosenbaum, Richard McGinnis, Anthony Huber, Gauge Gross Courts organizations: State of Wisconsin content_suitability: death [00:08-00:50]; violence [00:08-00:50]; crime [00:00-01:27] transcript_source: automatic transcription transcript_reviewed: not applicable ---  # The Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict Makes Us All Less Safe > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME Inside TIME: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition Inside TIME is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. A closer look at TIME's latest cover and our most compelling stories. Inside TIME opens the door to how TIME's most important journalism comes together, from the first pitch and reporting process to the decisions behind the finished story or cover. 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Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=419abd60-4cf2-4e64-9e40-38d0d66cd154&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Kyle Rittenhouse Found Not Guilty of All Charges [Watch (HLS stream): Kyle Rittenhouse Found Not Guilty of All Charges](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/I1nmx8tz.m3u8) (1:27)  _Published 2021-11-19. Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who killed two people during demonstrations last year in Kenosha, Wis., was found not guilty on all charges Friday, November 19._ Description, summary, key points, chapters, key quotes, questions and transcript, where present, were produced automatically from the video or its captions and were not reviewed. ## Summary The video shows the verdict reading in the State of Wisconsin v. Kyle Rittenhouse case. The judge asks the defendant to rise and the jury foreperson reads the verdict on each of five counts, finding Kyle H. Rittenhouse not guilty on all of them. The judge confirms the verdicts are unanimous and thanks the jury for its work over roughly three weeks of trial. ## Key points - The jury found Kyle H. Rittenhouse not guilty on the first count, concerning Joseph Rosenbaum. (00:08) - The jury found Kyle H. Rittenhouse not guilty on the second count, concerning Richard McGinnis. (00:16) - The jury found Kyle H. Rittenhouse not guilty on the third count, concerning an unknown male. (00:24) - The jury found Kyle H. Rittenhouse not guilty on the fourth count, concerning Anthony Huber. (00:32) - The jury found Kyle H. Rittenhouse not guilty on the fifth count, concerning Gauge Gross Courts. (00:40) - The judge said the trial started about three weeks earlier, longer than the two weeks and two days he had estimated. (01:11) ## Chapters - [00:00 to 00:50] Jury reads not guilty verdicts. The jury foreperson reads the verdict on each of the five counts, finding the defendant not guilty. - [00:50 to 01:27] Judge confirms verdicts and thanks jury. The judge confirms the verdicts are unanimous, declines a jury poll, and thanks the jurors for their service. ## Key quotes - [00:05] Court clerk: "State of Wisconsin v. Kyle Rittenhouse." - [00:08] Jury foreperson: "As to the first count of the information, Joseph Rosenbaum, we the jury find the defendant, Kyle H. Rittenhouse, not guilty." - [01:18] Judge: "You were a wonderful jury to work with. You were punctual. You were attentive." ## Questions this video answers - What was the verdict in the case against Kyle H. Rittenhouse? [00:08] - Which individuals were named in the counts of the information? [00:16] - Were the jury's verdicts unanimous? [00:50] - Did any juror disagree with the verdicts as read? [00:56] - How long did the trial last? [01:11] ## Content suitability - death [00:08-00:50]: Verdicts reference counts involving named individuals in a criminal case that involved fatal shootings. - violence [00:08-00:50]: The charges referenced in the verdicts relate to violent incidents. - crime [00:00-01:27]: The video covers a criminal trial and its verdicts. by [Barbara McQuade](https://time.com/author/barbara-mcquade/) ## Barbara McQuade Nov 19, 2021 10:54 PM UTC Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who killed two people during demonstrations last year in Kenosha, Wis., was found not guilty on all charges Friday, November 19. by [Barbara McQuade](https://time.com/author/barbara-mcquade/) ## Barbara McQuade Nov 19, 2021 10:54 PM UTC Jurors make their decisions in isolation. The problem is that in some cases, their verdicts can have sweeping consequences. The case of Kyle Rittenhouse is one of those cases. A [Wisconsin jury acquitted him](https://time.com/6117401/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict-not-guilty/) of all charges relating to his conduct in the streets of Kenosha in August 2020 that left [two men dead](https://time.com/5883707/kyle-rittenhouse-murder-kenosha-protest-shootings/) and another wounded. For some observers, the verdict seems outrageous. Looking at this case broadly, how can it be that our laws permit a teenager to escape criminal liability after he travels from out of state to a scene of civil unrest, violates a curfew specifically designed to keep people off the streets, and ostentatiously carries with him an assault weapon that results in deadly harm? Rittenhouse claimed he was in Kenosha to protect private property, even though the property owner testified he did not ask for his help. Rittenhouse further claimed that he went to the scene of unrest to provide medical assistance to the injured, even though he had no training as a medic and rendered aid to no one that night. Because he was not a government official, he wore no uniform or badge. Instead, he wore a backwards baseball cap and openly carried a weapon of war. And when people saw him, they understandably assumed he was an active shooter and attacked him to protect themselves and others from the threat of gunfire. Predictably, people ended up dead. But juries don’t look at the big picture. Judges instruct juries to focus only on the facts they hear in court, to tune out the media, and to disregard anything outside of the admitted evidence. Juries look at the minutiae, and the details matter. The prosecution bears the burden of proving each and every element of every charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt. When a defendant [claims self-defense](https://time.com/6120607/kyle-rittenhouse-self-defense/), as Rittenhouse did, the prosecution also bears the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act in self-defense. Proving a negative is a steep uphill climb. In this case, the attorneys showed jurors video recordings of the [events of that night](https://www.cnn.com/2021/11/18/us/kyle-rittenhouse-what-we-learned-from-trial/index.html). They slowed it down frame-by-frame, asking the jury to consider not the big picture of Rittenhouse’s outrageously poor judgment in bringing an AR-15 to a scene of chaos, but his conduct and mental state in the precise moments that the shots were fired. Victims of crime sometimes feel that they get fewer protections at trial than the accused, and in fact, they do. That’s because our Constitution requires the government to provide due process to one who is charged with a crime and facing loss of liberty. As we saw in this case, the judge would not even permit the decedents to be referred to as [“victims.”](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/judge-kyle-rittenhouse-case-explains-173300404.html) Though Judge Schroeder received some criticism for that ruling, it is a common practice in a criminal case because the term “victim” carries with it the suggestion that the defendant is guilty. Our system operates under the notion that it is better that ten guilty people go free than that one innocent person be convicted. Sometimes those protections leave us feeling that a grave injustice has occurred. And while the big picture is not the jury’s concern, this case will have repercussions outside of the courtroom. Rittenhouse will become the poster boy for right-wing extremists and politicians. Rep. Matt Gaetz has already [stated](https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/11/18/matt-gaetz-kyle-rittenhouse-congressional-intern/) that Rittenhouse would make a good congressional intern. You can bet Rittenhouse will be the guest of some member of Congress at the next State of the Union address. Why has a kid in Kenosha become such a cause celebré? His notoriety is part of the larger culture wars that are raging our country. Rittenhouse said he was drawn to Kenosha to help protect the city. The threat? Protesters who were expressing their outrage over the police shooting of [Jacob Blake](https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/c01e560qvyxt/jacob-blake-shooting), an unarmed Black man. While this trial was ongoing, another trial was occurring in Georgia, involving homicide charges against white men who were conducting a “citizen’s arrest” when they killed [Ahmaud Arbery](https://time.com/6108533/ahmaud-arbery-murder-trial/), a Black jogger, because they suspected him of trespassing in a home under construction. It is not difficult to imagine that if the defendants in these cases were Black, their experience of the criminal justice system would be very different. And now cynical politicians will use this verdict to exploit division in our country. They will ignore the narrow lens through which jurors view a case and proclaim this verdict to be a larger message to society that we should embrace vigilante justice. Political opportunists will use this case for race-baiting and fear-mongering to advance their own political agendas. They will cite this case to promote irresponsible use of assault weapons under the banner of the Second Amendment. And when people with no law enforcement training, experience or oversight feel liberated to take the law into their own hands, we are all less safe. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6122142/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6122142/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict/"},"headline":"The Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict Makes Us All Less Safe","datePublished":"2021-11-19T22:54:42.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-14T09:17:01.135Z","description":"The Rittenhouse verdict shows that when people take the law into their own hands, we are all less safe.","url":"https://time.com/6122142/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict/","keywords":["Guns"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt766eb9bb419c484c/698a1ff04ee26218bd319a0c/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Barbara McQuade","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/barbara-mcquade/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt766eb9bb419c484c/698a1ff04ee26218bd319a0c/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"kyle-rittenhouse-verdict","caption":"Kyle Rittenhouse reacts as he is found not guilty on all counts at the Kenosha County Courthouse on Nov. 19, 2021.","creditText":"Sean Krajacic—Pool/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/guns/","name":"Guns"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6122142/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict/","name":"The Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict Makes Us All Less Safe"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Kyle Rittenhouse Found Not Guilty of All Charges","description":"Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who killed two people during demonstrations last year in Kenosha, Wis., was found not guilty on all charges Friday, November 19.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/I1nmx8tz/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2021-11-19T18:50:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/I1nmx8tz.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/6122142/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict/","duration":"PT1M27S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/6122142/kyle-rittenhouse-verdict/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```