The left has been losing its collective mind over the jury’s acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on Friday, who was accused of murdering two rioters and injuring a third at a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin on August 25, 2020.
Although Rittenhouse and all three people he fired at were white, critics have tried to project the events through a racial lens rather than treat it as the simple self-defense case that the jury heard.
But while liberals called the Rittenhouse verdict a miscarriage of justice, they chose to ignore another verdict that came out the same day, where a Florida jury also acquitted a defendant — but under much more egregious circumstances.
Andrew Coffee IV was accused of firing at Indian River County Sheriff's deputies during a 2017 early morning drug raid at his residence.
His girlfriend, Alteria Woods, was caught in the crossfire, hit 10 times, and died of her injuries.
Coffee was charged with second-degree felony murder in her death, as well as three counts of attempted first-degree murder of a law enforcement officer by discharging his firearm, and one count of shooting or throwing a deadly missile.
Felony murder is any death that occurs because of and during the course of a felony, and the person charged does not have to be the direct cause of the death. In this case Woods was shot by sheriff’s deputies who were returning Coffee’s fire.
Coffee claimed he was asleep and thought the flash-bang the police used was gunshots so he used his own weapon to return fire.
TC Palm reported that “A grand jury in July 2017 cleared SWAT team members of any criminal charges and a Sheriff's Office internal investigation cleared them of any violations of policies and procedures.”
And just like Rittenhouse, Coffee testified on his own behalf.
“I was trying to protect me and Alteria and I thought I was doing that, but I feel I didn't protect her. I can't sleep with that,” Coffee said. “They killed her.”
Actually, Coffee’s own actions “killed her.” When he fired at the police, they had no choice but to return fire. Making matters worse, he illegally possessed the firearm he used in the incident.
Coffee is a two-time felon and can’t legally possess a gun. The first time was in 2010 for felony fleeing from law enforcement, and then battery on a law enforcement officer the following year.
Within seven years Coffee graduated from flight, to battery, to firing upon law enforcement.
But as in the Rittenhouse case, the jury shouldn’t be faulted for their verdict. They were the ones, after all, who sat through the trial and listened to the evidence as each side presented it.
Yet that didn’t prevent others from labeling Rittenhouse’s acquittal as a miscarriage of justice, beginning with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum are victims. They should be alive today,” Hizzoner tweeted.
“The only reason they’re not is because a violent, dangerous man chose to take a gun across state lines and start shooting people. To call this a miscarriage of justice is an understatement.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom thought the verdict sent the wrong message.
“America today: you can break the law, carry around weapons built for a military, shoot and kill people, and get away with it,” he tweeted. “That’s the message we’ve just sent to armed vigilantes across the nation.”
The American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland sounded as though they’d gone completely off their meds by claiming that the Rittenhouse verdict represented “Dangerous, disgusting, unacceptable white supremacy.”
They added that “white supremacy is a system of oppression. And that white supremacy system of oppression is dangerous, disgusting, and unacceptable.”
Gregory Jackson Jr., executive director of the Community Justice Action Fund, also brought race into the equation.
“To be Black and illegally armed in America means you will be executed by the police or incarcerated if you're lucky,” he said. “To be White and illegally armed in America means you can murder two people on camera and go home as a hero.”
To recap, Coffee used an illegally acquired weapon to fire upon police officers who were attempting to make a lawful drug raid, and was found not guilty (although the firearm charges are still pending.)
Rittenhouse had a clean record and legally possessed his weapon, and only fired to protect his life when he was being chased through the streets of Kenosha.
So why was the Coffee case ignored and Rittenhouse blown way out of proportion? Maybe the critics were right. Maybe it did have a racial element.
Rittenhouse is white; Coffee isn’t.
Michael Dorstewitz is a retired lawyer and has been a frequent contributor to BizPac Review and Liberty Unyielding. He is also a former U.S. Merchant Marine officer and an enthusiastic Second Amendment supporter, who can often be found honing his skills at the range. Read Dorstewitz's Reports — More Here.
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