The Connecticut Justice Alliance Offers Comment on the Rittenhouse Verdict

BRIDGEPORT, CT (November 19, 2021) - Kyle Rittenhouse, the teen from Illinois who shot and killed two people and injured another during a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year was found not guilty on all charges, under which his attorneys claimed self defense.

In response, Connecticut Justice Alliance Policy Director Iliana Pujols has offered the following statement:

“This is the verdict that proves the rule. As long as we live in a world that sees some young people as threats and others as victims, the fruits of our justice system will always be rank with injustice.

“The implications of this verdict will have rippling effects throughout our state, which at this moment is grappling with racialized, politically motivated strategies to funnel kids into prisons. When faced with the example that self defense can look like pursuing and killing two people, youth who engage in the often non-fatal act of joyriding have an uphill battle in pursuit of fair treatment.

“The only appropriate response to a verdict like this is to double down on our efforts to support young people throughout the state and to urge state legislators to adopt policies that transform and disrupt the systems that support these injustices."

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ABOUT THE CONNECTICUT JUSTICE ALLIANCE

The Connecticut Justice Alliance (CTJA) is a youth/adult partnership working to end the criminalization of youth. The Alliance works to disrupt and dismantle the pathways that funnel children and youth into the juvenile justice system by using organizing, advocacy, and policy tools to protect the rights, futures, and well-being of potentially, currently, and formerly incarcerated youth, while also ensuring youth who are detained, incarcerated, and involved in the courts and legal systems receive safe, fair, and dignified treatment.  

CTJA was formerly known as the Connecticut Juvenile Justice Alliance.