CBS News Deletes Tweet Prematurely Convicting Kyle Rittenhouse: ‘Murdered Two Men’
Sean Krajacic-Pool, Getty
CBS News on Thursday deleted a tweet in which it briefly claimed Kyle Rittenhouse told a courtroom he “murdered two men.”
“Kyle Rittenhouse testified in his murder trial yesterday, breaking down in tears as he told the jury he murdered two men at a Black Lives Matter protest last year in self-defense,” the network wrote in the misguided missive.
Rittenhouse, 18, is on trial in Wisconsin for shooting three men, two of them fatally, last year, for charges that include first-degree reckless homicide and first-degree intentional homicide.
While Rittenhouse’s identity as the shooter is not in doubt — the shootings were captured on video and he has admitted firing the shots — he is not legally a “murderer” without a jury first reaching that verdict.
He has asserted that he fired the shots in self-defense, testifying that one of the men, Joseph Rosenbaum, lunged at him before he pulled the trigger, and that the second man who was killed, Anthony Huber, “pulled away” his firearm before he discharged it.
Critics took note of the legally-inaccurate tweet despite its deletion.
Again, a lot of Rittenhouse coverage and commentary is straight up libelous. https://t.co/FqSJZNLkRe
— Mark Hemingway (@Heminator) November 11, 2021
Oh, well, then. No need for trials, CBS News has delivered its verdict! https://t.co/XvnrhEm8mr
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) November 11, 2021
When you could just report the story straight but you jump at the chance to put it in a lawsuit-worthy frame instead. https://t.co/LSfRgUXdiB
— Virginia Kruta (@VAKruta) November 11, 2021
