By Bela Suhayda
Sugar Grove, Ill.
There was a strange dynamic to the motion of the kids when I looked down the long hallway. It resembled the swirl in the rapids of a swollen river after a big rain. The movements were random and non-directional. It was a milling around without purpose. You could cut the tension with a knife. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I’d seen this same shifting of bodies previously, many times. It was the movements of nervous energy before a brawl. Something was about to go down.
I had been assigned to cover a P.E. class during my prep period along with other staff members. None of the regular P.E. teachers was at their posts that day. They were all at a conference. Moving down the crowded hallway, I found myself doing as the kids were doing. My head was on a swivel, looking for where it was going to come from.
Then came shrill voices and a huge flow of bodies from the hallway into the gymnasium. I ran following the flow of humanity into the wide open space of the gym. Fists were flying, legs were kicking, and the screaming that goes with a full blown riot. The choice of weapons being used were folding chairs in racks at the opposite side of the gym.
I felt helpless to do anything. It was beyond the capacity of the few adults present to restore order. The violence was everywhere and it was going to play out until the police arrived. I saw a young man in front of me holding a chair. I recognized him to be one of my students. I did the only thing I could do to prevent him from striking anyone else. I got behind him… picked him up into the air while telling him my name… and to drop the chair. He dropped the chair. The chaos would continue until the police arrived. There was no stand down order or defunding yet in those days.
I thought back on this incident while watching the video’s of the Kenosha riot in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial! Yes, when people are burning cars, businesses and are looting and beating people, that is a riot, not a protest. When cops are told to stand down, the chaos will go on for as long as the mob wants it to go on. Kenosha Citizens were on their own. They had no recourse than to defend their homes, property, and lives. And to the credit of the people of Kenosha, Wis., they armed and protected themselves. The mayor had ordered the cops to stand down. The Wisconsin governor had refused the National Guard offered by president Joe Biden. The mayor and governor have blood on their hands…as do the rioters.
But who ended up on trial? An 18-year-old kid. Why was he on trial? Because he did what neither the mayor nor governor was willing to do, protect the residents and property of Kenosha.
A lot has been made of the fact Rittenhouse took an AR-15 to a riot. Truth be told, he had legal rights to have the weapon and to be where he was. Look it up! Before you judge Kyle’s actions, ask yourself what the mayor and governor didn’t do to justify what Rittenhouse did do.
Ask yourself whether Kyle’s rifle kept him alive or not.
So now let’s examine what the 17-year-old did that fateful night in Kenosha. He cleaned graffiti off buildings, was putting out fires, tended to injuries and defended car lots full of cars. For helping thwart the efforts of violent rioters, he was threatened with his life. Remember, there are no police to stop the insanity. When one of the rioters, Rosenbaum, is shown, in a videotape, he is pursuing Rittenhouse. It is Rittenhouse retreating from his pursuer.
Hunters do not back away from their prey. It is only when Rosenbaum lunges for Rittenhouse and his gun that Kyle shoots in self-defense. Forensics indicated powder burns on the hand of Rosenbaum. His hand was on or within inches of the gun barrel. There was a mob of close to 50 watching. When Rittenhouse shoots….the mob runs. What would this mob have done had Rosenbaum disarmed Rittenhouse? I’ll leave it to your imagination to answer the question.
Rittenhouse flees the area in Kenosha. He runs away down a street towards site of the police. Some in the mob pursue him, catch him, and knock him to the ground. One does a flying kick to Kyle’s head, while another tries to crack his skull with a skateboard. Kyle successfully defends himself. Some media pundits call him a vigilante and others, including president Biden, call him a white supremacist for defending himself and Kenosha.