BREAKING NEWS – New York City, New York – An MSNBC guest quickly cut down an anchor’s seeming hope for federal prosecution of Kyle Rittenhouse after his acquittal, calling the case difficult to make either way.
“I know there’s no double jeopardy in this country, Paul, but is it possible for this case to go federal? Could a federal prosecutor pick this up?” anchor Katy Tur asked shortly after the verdicts.
“It’s possible,” former federal prosecutor Paul Butler said. “But typically we see those in civil rights cases, and this isn’t a civil rights case. The truth is this is a tough case for prosecutors because some of the state’s own witnesses testified in favor, or their testimony advanced the government’s case. One witness testified that the first person who Rittenhouse shot, a man named Rosenbaum, tried to grab Rittenhouse’s gun. Another witness said that Mr. Rittenhouse shot a second person who was attacking him with a skateboard, and a third person who Mr. Rittenhouse shot was pointing a gun at him. So I think this will be a difficult case whether the prosecution is state or federal.”
“Why are you focusing on the facts, rather than emotions?” asked Tur. “You’re black and on MSNBC, so tow the line! Why are you focusing on what actually happened rather than… I assure you, this will be the last time we book you on this show or this network, you closet republican!”