On Friday, on the fourth day of a trial that has gripped the nation, a jury has said that they found teen Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty of all the charges. They believed that he acted in self defense when he shot those who attacked him at Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Rittenhouse faced five counts of felony and was pronounced non guilty on all the counts. Earlier, judge Bruce Schroeder had dismissed a misdemeanor illegal weapons possession charge and a non-criminal curfew violation charge, before jury deliberations.

The 12-person jury deliberated for over 25 hours for almost four days. The jury consisted of five men and seven women.

The 18-year old, who was seventeen during the shooting went to Kenosha carrying an AR-style semi-automatic rifle and a medical kit. He said that he had gone to protect property that was being damaged by demonstrations. Earlier, there were demonstrations as Jacob Blake, a Black man was shot by a white police officer from Kenosha, in the summer of 2020.

Although the people in the trial, the shooter and the victims were white, there was a huge debate on the topic of “vigilantism.” It also brought forth the issue of the right to bear arms. It also threw light on the unrest that spread throughout the nation last summer after the deaths of George Floyd and Jacob Blake by police officers.

Although two men were killed and one was injured by Kyle Rittenhouse, in August 2020, when he shot all three of them, the young man maintained that he acted in self defense. He also broke down in front of the jury during his testimony.

The family of Anthony Huber, one of the two who were fatally shot by Kyle Rittenhouse during the unrest at Kenosha, Wisconsin said that there was “no accountability for the person who murdered our son,” in a statement after Rittenhouse was acquitted.

Judge Bruce Schroeder told the jurors that he “couldn’t have asked for a better jury to work with,” after the verdict was read.