The Chaos Tourist: As the jury starts deliberations today in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot and killed two protesters in 2020 and wounded a third, what’s on trial as much as the 18-year-old defendant is the notion of self-defense with a gun and how much force is too much.

  Rittenhouse has claimed under Wisconsin law that he fired his gun to save himself from imminent death or serious injury even though the two men he killed with an assault rifle were unarmed and the third who was wounded appeared to be attempting to stop any further bloodshed.

  At the age of 17 Rittenhouse had gone to racial justice protests and riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin armed with an AR-15 assault rifle with the idea of protecting private property and acting as an emergency medic, even though he had no legal authority, carrying a gun he was too young to buy himself, and with no medical training. One of the prosecutors dismissed him as “a chaos tourist.”

  In closing arguments, prosecutor Thomas Binger said, “When the defendant provokes the incident, he loses the right to self-defense.” He said, “You cannot claim self-defense against a danger you create.”

  In the first killing, Rittenhouse was being chased by a man named Joseph Rosenbaum who was still several feet away when Rittenhouse turned and shot him four times, even though the first shot was crippling and the last was fatal. “This is someone who has no remorse, no regard for life, and only cares about himself,” Binger said of the defendant.

  Defense lawyer Mark Richards punched some big holes in the prosecution, arguing that in a generally chaotic situation that night Rittenhouse had been confronted with death threats and feared that Rosenbaum wanted to take his gun, even though it was strapped to his body. “Mr. Rosenbaum was shot because he was chasing my client,” Richards said, “because he was going to kill him, take his gun, and carry out the threats he made.”

  Richards said, “Every person who was shot was attacking Kyle.”

  The judge dismissed the least serious of the charges, a misdemeanor for illegally possessing a dangerous weapon as a minor. Rittenhouse’s defense lawyers successfully argued that state law does not prohibit a 17-year-old from carrying a rifle with a long barrel.

  Court watchers speculate that Rittenhouse might skate on the most serious charges, first-degree intentional homicide for the death of 26-year-old Anthony Huber. But the judge instructed jurors that they also have the choice of finding the defendant guilty of second-degree intentional homicide or first-degree reckless homicide.

Don’t Mess: China’s leader Xi Jinping urged the US not to mess with his country’s plans  to reunite with the island Democracy of Taiwan last night in a conversation with President Biden. “We are patient and are willing to strive for the prospect of peaceful reunification with the utmost sincerity,” Xi told Biden, according to a readout on the meeting provided by Chinese state media. “But China will have to take resolute measures if the ‘Taiwan independence’ separatist forces provoke, compel or even cross the red line.”

  The question of Taiwan’s independence is one of the biggest issues between the US and China, posing the question of what the US would do if China invaded.

Infowar Lost: Conspiracy monger Alex Jones and his and his Infowars media outlet have lost by default lawsuits brought by the families of eight victims in the infamous Sandy Hook school shooting in Connecticut because he had refused to turn over documents ordered by the courts, including financial records.

  This makes for a total of 10 cases Jones has lost brought by families who say they have been damaged and hounded by Jones’s followers who believe his claims that the school massacre was part of a government plot to confiscate guns and that the victims’ families were “actors” in the scheme.

  In 2012 a shooter killed 20 first graders and six members of the school staff in Newtown, Connecticut. One family says they have had to move 10 times to get away from Jones’s followers who almost immediately publish their address and come to threaten them.

  Juries in Connecticut and Texas will have to decide how much Jones must pay the families in damages.

The Political Roundup: Beto O’Rourke, the appealing former member of Congress from El Paso and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, announced that he will run for governor of Texas to knock out the very conservative Gov. Greg Abbott.  —- Vermont’s Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy announced that he will retire at the end of his term in 2022, his eighth six-year term, rather than run for re-election. “It is time to come home,” he said. While the  Democrats could lose the Senate next year, it likely won’t be because Leahy is retiring. Vermont is a solid Democratic state. 

The Spin Rack: The US is highly annoyed after Russia carried out an antisatellite missile test, shattering one of its own satellites, creating a cloud of space debris orbiting Earth, some of it flying dangerously close to the International Space Station. — President Biden yesterday signed the $1.3 trillion infrastructure bill that will funnel billions into roads, bridges, public transit, electric vehicles, broadband internet and more. — Loyal Trumpie Steve Bannon turned himself in yesterday to face a federal misdemeanor indictment for contempt of Congress. “This is going to be the misdemeanor from hell,” Bannon promised reporters after his initial court appearance. He said he said he intended to use the legal process to attack Attorney General Merrick Garland, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and President Biden and that “Every progressive, every liberal in this country that likes freedom of speech and liberty, OK, should be fighting for this case.”  

Dept. of Corrections: We reported yesterday that a taxi blew up in London in an evident terrorist attack. It was Liverpool, England.

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