Early Friday afternoon a Wisconsin jury deemed that Kyle Rittenhouse was not guilty in a case stemming over the fatal shooting of two men in last year’s Kenosha racial protests.
Because the incident occurred during the 2020 protests over the shooting of Jacob Blake (who is black) by a white Kenosha police officer, there was a certain element of political polarization hanging over this case.
Ultimately, Rittenhouse was cleared on all five charges that were brought against him, including reckless homicide and attempted intentional homicide.
After the fact, Minnesota Timberwolves big man Karl-Anthony Towns weighed in on the verdict with a four-word message.
The System Is Broken.
— Karl-Anthony Towns (@KarlTowns) November 19, 2021
Reactions to his post, as one would expect, were mixed:
Oh god. It was self defense. Its not that hard to understand
— Jacob (@JELSON4321) November 19, 2021
With all due respect Karl-Anthony, no it’s not. The system did what it was supposed to do, determine whether self-defence is legal or not, and it determined that it was. Watch the trial for yourself before assuming what CNN told you is correct.
— Jared Thiessen (@thiessenj3) November 19, 2021
It’s working the way that it was designed to be.. white tears work
— Nas (@philly_nas) November 19, 2021
Self defense isn’t a crime
— Philthegoat (@noobstatus2) November 19, 2021
The system isn’t broken. It’s working precisely how it was designed to work– and that’s the problem.
— Paul Dawkins (@Paul__Dawkins) November 19, 2021
This isn’t Towns’ first venture into complex and divisive topics.
A few weeks back, he offered a rather blunt message regarding Kyrie Irving’s decision to remain unvaccinated. Somehow, it managed to anger both sides of the aisle.
Clearly Towns isn’t afraid to express his take on difficult subjects.
What will he ultimately weigh in on next? Time will tell.
Yikes. https://t.co/2Yr0Ns5Wd1
— Game 7 (@game7__) November 19, 2021
Related: Dwyane Wade Settles Kevin Durant vs Steph Curry Debate Once And For All