“Look, I stand by what the jury has concluded,” he said. “The jury system works, and we have to abide by it.”
Rittenhouse, the teenager who killed two people and shot another during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was acquitted Friday of first-degree intentional homicide and four other felony charges. The panel of five men and seven women deliberated more than 25 hours over the past four days in a closely watched case. The verdict cannot be appealed.
“I just heard a moment ago,” Biden said, when asked about Rittenhouse being found not guilty on all counts. “I didn’t watch the trial.”
When asked on Monday why Biden previously tweeted a video that suggested Rittenhouse is a white supremacist, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said: “What I’m not going to speak to right now is anything about an ongoing trial nor the President’s past comments. What I can reiterate is the President’s view is that we shouldn’t have, broadly speaking, vigilantes patrolling our communities with assault weapons. We shouldn’t have opportunists corrupting peaceful protest by rioting and burning down the communities they claim to represent anywhere in the country.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
Biden reacts to Rittenhouse verdict: ‘The jury system works, and we have to abide by it’