this post was submitted on 26 May 2024
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Duty to retreat doesn't mean you can't go anywhere, it means that if someone attacks you in a place you are legally allowed to occupy (like your home, car, work, public spaces), you are obligated to attempt to escape to the best of your ability, and only when that option is exhausted can you defend yourself.
Ironically, he ran from Rosenbaum until he was cornered, then ran from the mob yelling "get him" until he was downed by a guy with a rock, so he met the legal definition of "duty to retreat" whether or not he had to in WI.
The only argument that could be made is the "were legally allowed to occupy" bit as there was a curfew in place that night, however IIRC that curfew was later ruled to not be legal itself, and that would also have applied to everyone in the entire city of Kenosha at the time, including those who attacked Kyle.
Furthermore, he drove 20min from his mother's in Antioch, yes, however his father lived in Kenosha, he worked in Kenosha, and had multiple friends in Kenosha, it wasn't just some random place. Also Huber and Grosskreutz both drove further, albeit from further north WI rather than IL, but still further distance, and Grosskreutz brought a gun he wasn't legally allowed to own (the one he pointed at Kyle.) The only one who didn't travel was Rosenbaum who was a violent criminal released from a mental facility into that chaotic situation with presumably nowhere to go, which seems like it may have been a poor choice on someone's part.
Washington isn't a duty to retreat state, but duty to retreat laws often do cover accelerating a conflict with your weapon. Going open carry, as an opposing force and as a bright white little boy, to a riot started due to racial inequity could be considered accelerating a conflict. But those laws don't apply here anyway.
But yeah, 20 minutes isn't a far distance. And he did his best to retreat even after he put himself in that situation, and I don't think there was any better decision to make besides just not being there. For him and the shit stains that attacked him.
WI != WA. But in any case, no, if he had the legal right to be there and the legal right to carry there, carrying there is not a basis for arguing he accelerated the conflict. Brandishing would be a good basis for that, but brandishing != carrying open or otherwise, and he was not brandishing.
For sure, I agree he shouldn't have been there. That same night there were also less eventful riots in my area too, and did I go to them? No, I stayed to protect my home and my loved ones with my rifle. Luckily there was no need, the stuff that got burned down and the people that got jumped all ended up being in another part of town, but that's their problem I'm not obligated to protect them as shitty as that is, I gotta look out for me and mine.