Protests Against Rittenhouse Verdict Spring Up in Several Cities

Small groups of protesters angry over the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict demonstrated Friday evening in Chicago, New York, Portland, Oregon, and a few other cities.

In Portland, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office declared a riot near the Multnomah County Justice Center, which houses a jail and Portland’s police headquarters. The Portland Police Bureau said that demonstrators had been breaking windows and damaging doors of city facilities.

Other demonstrations around the country were peaceful.

In Chicago, several dozen demonstrators gathered in downtown and marched in opposition to the verdict. Outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, protesters trickled into the crowds arriving at the arena for the evening’s Nets game.

Sean Stefanic of Brooklyn said he was there for the protest, not the game.

“The fact that we are not surprised by this is the reason I am here,” Stefanic, 37, said. “Because it is not surprising anymore, despite the past year, especially after the George Floyd tragedy.”

Saman Waquad, 38, of Woodside, Queens, said she worried the verdict would embolden counterprotesters to carry weapons. “What does this mean for civil disobedience?” she asked. “Does it mean we cannot safely protest anymore?”

“I didn’t expect there to be full justice, but not guilty on all charges was a slap in the face,” she added. “If this was a Black or brown kid, he or she would be dead right now.”

Ari Saffron, 23, of Queens, said the Rittenhouse trial had disillusioned him, exposing “that there is no such thing as an impartial justice system."

By around 8 p.m., the crowd had grown to about 200 people when the protesters left the arena and began to march along Flatbush Avenue toward the Manhattan Bridge.