The Kyle Rittenhouse (KR) trial was a shameless exhibition of prosecutorial incompetence/ misconduct, judicial uncertainty, and ruined innocence.
Prosecuting attorney Thomas Binger drew a stinging rebuke from Judge Bruce Schroeder for violating long established court rules such as urging the jury to assume guilt when the accused chose to remain silent rather than undergo questioning. The 5th Amendment guarantees the right of an accused to remain silent with no assumption of guilt. Binger had already been warned about this and the judge brought him up short the second time he tried it.
Binger seemed completely unfamiliar with laws or practices relating to firearms. He brought a single charge of illegal possession based on the length of the AR15 that KR used that night. He (Binger) never even measured it. The law in question specified the short version of the AR15; Rittenhouse had carried the 4-inch-longer version which he was perfectly entitled to bear. Towards the end of the trial, Binger took the AR15 that was in evidence and aimed it in the direction of the jury with his finger on the trigger – two safety violations known to millions of gun enthusiasts and NRA members, but not to Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger.
