I initially planned to write about a 17 year-old murderer, and the deplorables who crowd-sourced his $2M bail. But after a period of reflection, I realized that I’d much rather tell you what I know about the heroes who attempted to stop him on that fateful night in Kenosha.
Joseph Rosenbaum was the shooter’s first victim. Per his Facebook page, Joseph lived in Kenosha, WI but was originally from Waco, TX. He left behind a fiancée and a young daughter.
Anthony Huber was the shooter’s second victim. A native of Kenosha, WI, Anthony left behind a partner and stepdaughter, as well as his parents, six siblings and many other family and friends.
Gaige Grosskreutz is the shooter’s third victim, and the only survivor from that night’s events. He was shot at point-blank range and is missing most of his right bicep. Gaige still deals with immense pain from his wound and is haunted by the events of that night.
All three men attended that evening’s protest that was being held in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man who’d been shot several times in the back by a white policeman. Joseph and Anthony had gone to attend the protest. Gaige had traveled from Milwaukee with a medical kit to help as needed with any protest-related injuries.
Because we live in a nation that is comprised of 40% deplorables, Gaige has received death threats and been accused of being in Antifa. The friend who set up the GoFundMe page for Anthony’s partner has explicitly asked people to not leave negative comments. Even past criminal transgressions by each have been dredged up and used by right wing media to help justify the actions of the shooter.
These three men did nothing wrong, and committed no crime by attending one of the country’s many protests against police brutality and systemic racism. Yet it’s the murderer who’s been given the role of ‘the victim’ by an entire political party, and who is currently sucking up the oxygen that should be given to those who had wanted to make this country a better place for people of color.
So I decided to do something positive to end the week, and write the true heroes of Kenosha: the two men who lost their life trying to stop a murderer, and the one left with a permanent reminder of his missed opportunity.
As for the murderer: fuck him! Hopefully karma will do a better job with than it did for Trayvon Martin’s murderer.
{Author’s Note 11/18/2021: If you plan on submitting a comment that does nothing but disparage the victims, it will be immediately trashed. When I wrote this piece a year ago, the point was specifically in stating that if anyone was a hero in this chain of events, it wasn’t the underage white guy who crossed state lines with an illegally-obtained firearm in order to ‘help’ anyone other than his own delusions of grandiosity. Whatever wrong someone may have done in their life, it was not part of the reason that the killer he showed up with an AR-15 wanting to shoot someone. THAT is the point. If all you care about is trashing the shooting victims, there isn’t much to discuss.}
Wow. This is a wonderful article. Thank you❤️ These men were heros and absolutely did nothing wrong but try to stop someone intent on hurting others.
I just am amazed the shooter was found not guilty of all charges. He literally shot 3 people on camera.
No doubt that Rittenhouse shouldn’t have been there and he was out of his league. But just because he made a poor decision to attend doesn’t rob him of his right to self defense. The evidence clearly showed he was attacked and not the aggressor.
From Rosenbaum chasing him, ultimately catching up with him, and trying to take his gun. To the second fella hitting him in the head with a skateboard. To lastly someone pointing a gun at him. Each one of those actions is a clear cut, CASE LAW documented example of deadly force/serious bodily harm…therefore justifiable self defense.
We clearly may disagree politically or on social issues, but facts are facts and law is law. The minute we strive from that and act on emotion, we lose the entire purpose of a justice system.
I’m not a lawyer. That said, if we have a system that can allow someone to – by their own actions – cause a situation that leads to murder, we’ve already lost the system. Trayvon Martin’s murder (and the use of ‘Stand Your Ground’ to defend the man who stalked him, attacked him, then ultimately felt frightened because he was getting his ass kicked) already lost the purpose of the system for me and many others. But thanks for being one of the few to write against this piece in a respectful manner.