WASHINGTON – Bend the Arc: Jewish Action released the following statement on Friday in response to Kyle Rittenhouse being acquitted for killing two people and injuring another:

“Kyle Rittenhouse’s acquittal shows how the criminal justice system is designed to protect racist vigilantism,” said Stosh Cotler, CEO of Bend the Arc: Jewish Action. “When Rittenhouse went to Kenosha last year he was continuing a long and ugly history in this country of white supremacists responding to multiracial movements for justice and civil rights with violence, and then claiming to be the victim. We saw this truth from the moment police allowed him to leave the scene after killing two people, his brutal actions championed by politicians and pundits who routinely manufacture fear and division in order to hold onto power. Today’s acquittal is by no means surprising given how the system was weighted from the start, but does not lessen our outrage and heartbreak that justice has been denied for the grieving families of the victims.”

“In this moment, we renew our call to dismantle the centuries-old structures of white supremacy and to build a more just America in its place. Our Jewish community is committed to Black lives and Black liberation – including Black Jews, Black women, Black queer and trans people, and Black people with disabilities. We call for our Jewish community, especially white Jews, to rise up for Black lives using all of our spiritual, political and intellectual resources.”

Bend the Arc: Jewish Action is uniting a movement of tens of thousands of progressive Jews across the country who are fighting for justice and equality for all. We are the only national Jewish organization focused exclusively on social change in the United States.

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