The jury, whose racial makeup was not disclosed by the court but appeared to be overwhelmingly white, deliberated for close to three and a half days. Rittenhouse, then 17 years old and a former police youth cadet, said he went to Kenosha to protect property from rioters. Jacob Blake's shooting led to several nights of protests and unrest, and ultimately the fatal shootings committed by Rittenhouse. Justin Blake, left, uncle of Jacob Blake, listens to the verdict being read outside the Kenosha County Courthouse on Friday. The verdict in the politically volatile case was met with anger and disappointment from those who saw Rittenhouse as a vigilante and a wannabe cop, and relief and vindication from those who regarded him as a patriot who wanted to stop lawlessness and exercised his Second Amendment right to carry a gun and to defend himself. Supporters donated more than $2 million US toward his legal defence. But as he said when he testified, he did not start this." "He has a huge sense of relief for what the jury did to him today. "He wants to get on with his life," defence attorney Mark Richards said. A sheriff's deputy immediately whisked him out a back door. Rittenhouse, 18, began to choke up, fell forward toward the defence table and then hugged one of his attorneys as he heard a court clerk recite "not guilty" five times. Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges Friday after pleading self-defence in the deadly Kenosha, Wis., shootings that became a flashpoint in the nation's debate over guns, vigilantism and racial injustice.
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