The trial prospects for domestic terrorist Kyle Rittenhouse are looking increasingly bleak as his current lawyer just filed a defense argument that is filled with a ridiculous amount of speculation, his former lawyer is currently involved in a morass of childish in-fighting over Rittenhouse’s attempt to get gullible conservatives to donate to his legal defense, and his lawyer/media consultant Lin Wood is facing a steadily mounting series of his own troubles, including the possibility of disbarment, and a requirement that he submit for a psychological evaluation. Rittenhouse has also weakened his own case by being seen hanging out with members of the group “The Proud Boys”, whose members participated in the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol building. Associating with a group that’s been labeled as a terrorist group in Canada (and which would likely suffer the same label in the US if it weren’t for GOP obstruction) is just one more strike against him. It’s likely that Rittenhouse will be spending many years of his life in state and Federal prison.

On January 5th, Rittenhouse made his first court appearance where he was charged with murdering two men and wounding another on August 23rd of 2020. The incident occurred at a political protest, where Wisconsin residents were protesting the police shooting of Jacob Blake. During the Blake protests, political agitators on social media issued a call for white nationalists to come to Madison to inflict violence on civil rights protesters. Rittenhouse responded to that call, and also asked a friend of his who lived in Wisconsin to engage in a straw-purchase of a firearm on his behalf. Rittenhouse was only 17 at the time, and as a result of his actions is currently facing five felony charges: first degree intentional homicide in the death of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36; first degree reckless homicide of Anthony Huber, 26, attempted first degree intentional homicide of Gaige Grosskreutz, 22, and two counts of recklessly endangering safety, for shots fired at others. He may also face charges for violating 18 USC § 922(a)(6) for asking a person to purchase a firearm for him illegally in another state (Rittenhouse was under the age of 18 at the time), and then receiving said firearm.

The recent defense argument from Rittenhouse’s lawyer is a masterpiece of conservative paranoia and stupidity. News reports indicate that Rittenhouse’s current lawyer, a right-wing nut named Mark Richards, wants to argue that “… one of the men his client killed during a protest in Wisconsin last year was a sex offender, who was trying to steal Rittenhouse’s gun because he couldn’t possess one.” There are several problems with this argument. There’s no way for Rittenhouse to have known the personal history of any of the other people he met with that night unless he had met them previously, or had been given some kind of intelligence brief and planned to attack them. Without proof of said encounter or briefing, Rittenhouse’s lawyer is engaging in purely speculative fantasy concocted after the fact, and the entire argument is without merit, and will be dismissed. In addition, if Rittenhouse were to offer testimony that he had been briefed on the identity of the people he killed, that he coordinated to purchase a weapon and travel across state lines to engage in a targeted act of murder, then he could face Federal Capital murder charges, and the person who purchased the firearm for him could face Federal firearms trafficking charges. The job of a lawyer is to try to help reduce the charges against you, not come up with some wild fantasy that could expose you to massively increased Federal liability. Rittenhouse’s current lawyer is a clown.

Conservative lunatic and potential future mental patient Lin Wood, who was part of the Trump campaign’s efforts to overturn election results in multiple states managed to interject himself into Rittenhouse’s case almost immediately, turning Rittenhouse into a hero to the Trump base, who see his actions as a bold step at asserting white supremacy. Wood also brought in conservative wing-nut John Pierce, who is a veteran of the right-wing propaganda circuit, and couldn’t resist the grifting potential of the Rittenhouse case. Rittenhouse’s family, and Wood -who have since had a falling out-have since asserted that Pierce saw the Rittenhouse case as a convenient cash generator, and they are angry that he didn’t split the proceeds up to their liking, and took a larger share of the grift than they felt he was entitled to. The organization that Wood and Pierce assembled to run the con was a group called “#Fightback”. There are several articles that cover messages from Lin Wood’s telegram account and the childish back and forth reads like a script for a daytime soap opera. Suffice it to say that Rittenhouse’s entire legal and fund-raising team appear to be a bunch of paranoid and hysterical assholes, and going into court with that kind of representation makes you look like a paranoid and hysterical asshole as well.

Rittenhouse’s “lawyer emeritus” and media rep is noted conservative wing-nut Lin Wood. Wood is currently on the losing end of a disabarment lawsuit with the state bar of Georgia that will require him to submit the results of a psychological evaluation. Wood is also facing the prospect of financial sanctions from the state of Michigan for bringing a series of frivolous lawsuits to try to overturn the results of the 2020 Presidential election in that state. Wood and his co-defendants in that case could end up being penalized for the full cost incurred by the state of Michigan in defending against those lawsuits. It’s no help in a legal case to have a lawyer that other people think is literally crazy, and who has managed to piss of State Bar Associations and State Attorney Generals all within the course of the past year.

On top of the lawyer problems, Rittenhouse committed one huge error of his own making. He chose to be seen drinking in a bar with members of the far-right group the Proud Boys, an organization that’s recognized in Canada as a terrorist organization, and whose members participated in the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol building. That means that after the state of Wisconsin is done with him, and Rittenhouse moves on to the stage where he’s dealing with the Federal Firearms charge, he may also face hate crimes charges. It’s possible that Rittenhouse and any associates who aided him in acquiring his firearm, or who sought to inflict violence on political protesters could be charged with violating 18 USC § 241: Conspiracy against rights, for using violence and the threat of violence to intimidate political protesters, thereby depriving them of their right to free assembly and expression.

Kyle Rittenhouse is seriously fucked. His current lawyer is putting up a clown show defense that could end up exposing Rittenhouse to Federal charges of crossing state lines to commit an act of Capitol murder. Rittenhouse’s first lawyer appears to be engaged in extensive skimming of funds that were raised as part of a grift to get white nationalists to donate funds for Rittenhouse’s legal defense. His media consultant, Lin Wood, is a ridiculous clown who is currently facing disbarment proceedings in one state, and a lawsuit in another, for actions related to trying to overturn a Presidential election. Finally, Rittenhouse stupidly chose to be seen with members of a terrorist group whose members participated in the January 6th insurrection at the US Capitol, and that choice of association naturally begs the question of whether Federal charges against Rittenhouse should include a charge for conspiracy against rights of political protesters, which could result in up to a life term in prison.

Image credit: detail from the painting “The garden of earthly delights” by Hieronymous Bosch