The 4PM

A judge’s decision to let Kyle Rittenhouse’s attorneys refer to the men their client shot as “rioters” and “looters” has liberals melting down in rage.

SO WHAT

The “fiery but mostly peaceful” narrative won’t die.

WHAT HAPPENED

Schroeder sided with the defense during a pre-trial hearing Monday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after previously ruling prosecutors cannot refer to the three men shot by Rittenhouse as “victims” in his upcoming murder trial.

During the Rittenhouse motions today the State was ridiculed by the judge for saying “all we are talking about here is arson” to which the judge responded “I can’t believe some of the things you’re saying.. come on!” pic.twitter.com/3fVqKxlBUD

— John Curtis (@Johnmcurtis) October 25, 2021

Schroeder was responding Monday to the state’s request that Rittenhouse’s attorneys be barred from using “pejorative” terms to describe the men, Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, who were killed, and Gaige Grosskreutz, who was wounded.

• If prosecutors will be able to argue Rittenhouse “is a cold-blooded killer, then why couldn’t [an attorney] call someone a rioter?” the judge asked the prosecutors Monday, per Kenosha News.
• Schroeder also scoffed at Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Tom Binger’s attempts to downplay Rosenbaum’s actions on the night of Aug. 25, 2020, when he was killed amid destructive racial justice protests in Kenosha.
• “All we’re talking about is arson. We’re talking about being loud and disorderly,” Binger told the judge, who replied: “I can’t believe some of the things you’re saying.”

Reaffirming his ruling against calling the men “victims,” Schroeder explained it is “a loaded, loaded word.”

THE REACTION

On Twitter, the Daily Wire’s Matt Walsh and other conservatives, among whom Rittenhouse’s case has become a cause célèbre, said he should be acquitted and more.

It will be an outrage if Kyle Rittenhouse just walks away from this a free man. He should walk away a free and rich man after suing for malicious prosecution.

— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) October 27, 2021

But left-leaning journalists and activists condemned Schroeder’s decision as proof the U.S. criminal justice system is “rigged” and America is irredeemably “racist.”

• “Our white supremacist court system will bend in any direction possible to make life easier for white supremacist murderer posterboy Kyle Rittenhouse,” tweeted Cameron Kasky, a Parkland shooting survivor and gun control activist.
• The popular Occupy Democrats account suggested Schroeder is a Nazi sympathizer and called for him to be “REMOVED FROM THE CASE.”

Will Bunch, a Philadelphia Inquirer columnist, commiserated with his fellow “seething” liberals and listed Schroeder’s supposed transgressions on the bench, such as his reputation for doling out stiff sentences and the time he urged AIDS tests for sex workers.

1. So you're probably seething about the judge in the Kyle Rittenhouse case saying lawyers can't call the 3 people he shot "victims," while there's a chance they can be called "rioters" or "looters"

Did you wonder what's up with this guy? I did.

Buckle up

— Will Bunch (@Will_Bunch) October 27, 2021