Activists Sue Kyle Rittenhouse, Facebook Over Deadly Violence In Kenosha
KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS) -- A group of activists is suing Kyle Rittenhouse and Facebook over deadly violence in Kenosha in August.
The group wants people to see a hateful message they claim incited the incident, so they gathered social media posts from the Kenosha Guard Group page.
The group plans to print out the posts and put them on an actual wall in Kenosha so people can see for themselves what they say is the hateful rhetoric and real-world consequences.
"People like Kyle Rittenhouse can't just go somewhere and play cowboy just because of a Facebook group," said Nathan Peet, who is among those suing. "You know, we have the Second Amendment, and a Second Amendment states a 'well-regulated militia.' A Facebook group is not well-regulated."
The civil lawsuit accuses Facebook of fueling when it failed to take down the posts asking people to bring weapons to the protests, despite being flagged by hundreds of people as a threat.
Rittenhouse, 17, is charged with shooting three people with an AR-15 rifle on Aug. 25, killing two of them, during a night of widespread civil unrest in Kenosha days after white Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Jacob Blake, 29-year-old Black man, in the back.
Rittenhouse is charged as an adult with two counts of first-degree homicide and one count of attempted homicide.