Following the outcome of Depp v. Heard, it seems some men in Hollywood are trying to use this precedent to sue the women of their lives. Unfortunately, the Depp v. Heard case has set a dangerous model where anyone can sue anyone — especially in regards to domestic abuse allegations. It’s interesting to consider the legal ramifications that Depp v. Heard has in light of domestic abuse cases, especially for the #MeToo movement. In the aftermath of this case, Kyle Rittenhouse, acquitted felon, and his legal team seek at least 10 defamation lawsuits against large media companies for slandering him.
In the world of domestic abuse cases, this is incredibly dangerous as Johnny Depp won despite the British court finding some evidence he may have abused Amber Heard. The case can be manipulated as a precedent for any kind of defamation lawsuit in the future. Rittenhouse’s impending lawsuits are flat-out egregious and demonstrate the ignorance that people show towards this new precedent.
According to Business Insider, Mark Zuckerberg is at the top of Rittenhouse’s defamation list because of his large following. Rittenhouse’s lawyer, Todd McMurtry, said Zuckerberg said Rittenhouse was involved in a mass murder incident. To McMurtry’s point, it’s true — Rittenhouse only shot at three victims and killed two of them, so by definition, it is not mass murder.
Among celebrities who have chosen sides for this case, Rittenhouse has wrongfully used the Depp v. Heard case to his advantage and to reclaim his undeserved 15 minutes of fame. He even tweeted that since his high school career was “robbed from him,” he didn’t get the proper chance to prepare for his future as other students did. It’s not like Rittenhouse had a choice to go to Kenosha, Wisconsin, or not. Funnily enough, if Rittenhouse hadn’t gone to Kenosha that night — perhaps the two victims wouldn’t have been robbed of their life.
In an analysis of the footage from The New York Times, it’s clear Rittenhouse went to Kenosha seeking confrontation with the protestors. As Rittenhouse ran through the crowds, guns blazing, the protestors tried their best to disarm him — a situation that is very common when a dangerous assailant has the threat of a gun in a large group of people.
This is where Rittenhouse killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber. Rosenbaum attacked Rittenhouse from behind and Rittenhouse shot back with a round of bullets. Huber hit Rittenhouse with a skateboard, trying to disarm him, and that small act cost him his life. A skateboard versus an AR-15. As Gaige Grosskreutz tried to disarm Rittenhouse with his own firearm, Rittenhouse shot at him as well.
The footage also demonstrates the stark difference between how the police treated the armed militia group versus the Black Lives Matter protestors. The armed militia came on their own like crazed vigilantes to “protect the city,” which I found increasingly hypocritical as many of the protestors were unarmed. The police even offered the armed militia some water and praised them for “protecting their city.” It’s definitely no surprise Rittenhouse wasn’t arrested by police that night for killing two protestors and injuring a third.
Republicans across the country still propel Rittenhouse as an unsung American hero for his actions that night and not the white supremacist he is. Similar to the majority of white assailants of mass shootings, the consequences are usually never met and they are offered an easy way out. We’ve seen this from the recent Buffalo shooting — where the white shooter survived the shootout with police after he had slaughtered 10 innocent people.
Even though Rittenhouse and his legal team were successful in getting him acquitted, it is undoubtedly sure Rittenhouse had the intent that night, as he’s not even from Kenosha. He traveled there, across state lines, yielding an illegal AR-15 (in Wisconsin, since he was 17) against unarmed protestors. He ran through the crowds like a vigilante seeking destruction. His defense is he wanted to protect and serve first aid — where did that happen? He may have been defending himself to an extent, but why even go to Kenosha in the first place? Why go fully armed?
Rittenhouse continues to make a fool out of himself as he seeks these defamation lawsuits and also said he committed to attend Texas A&M — the school said otherwise. He then backtracked and said he would attend Blinn College. Both universities have denied these statements. As he continuously blames the media and threatens to “make them pay” for ruining his reputation, I hope he realizes it’s his criminal actions that ruined it first.
