Two members of the defense team for alleged Kenosha, Wis. shooter Kyle Rittenhouse will use the right-leaning or libertarian social media platform Parler as their primary means of public communication about the case.
According to a Parler statement, the decision by attorneys L. Lin Wood and Marina Medvin came after Twitter locked Wood’s account for tweeting links to the Rittenhouse Defense Fund.
Violence erupted during Black Lives Matter protests in Kenosha last week after a controversial ... [+]
News sites are also reporting that Facebook removed posts supporting the alleged shooter, while also preventing users from looking up Rittenhouse’s identity before he was charged.
The 17-year-old Rittenhouse came to Kenosha to counter Black Lives Matter protests following the police-involved shooting of Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse allegedly shot three individuals during those protests, killing Anthony M. Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum. Some witnesses claim Rittenhouse was protecting the targets of violent looters, while others say the shooting was unprovoked.
The teen from Antioch, Ill. faces the following charges: First-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18. The homicide charges carry a maximum sentence of 65 years in Wisconsin, though Rittenhouse has yet to be extradited to to that state from Illinois.
Following Wood’s Twitter suspension, fellow lawyer Medvin used Parler to attack the social media giants and claimed the defense team would “only be using Parler to communicate to the public about the case.”
As of today, attorney Wood’s Twitter account was reinstated. A statement from the social media platform said the sanctioning was an error. While Wood committed to Parler as the defense team’s main channel, he said he would keep his Twitter account “out of loyalty to (his) followers.”
