• Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    You can’t pre-meditate self-defense.

    Of course you can. You just go somewhere intending to get in a fight and kill your opponent.

    Which is what Rittenhouse did.

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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      3 months ago

      Sure, but he didn’t start the fight, he just placed himself into a position where a fight was likely to occur. If you start a fight (e.g. with fighting words), then you can be charged with a crime, potentially murder. That doesn’t seem to be the case, so just placing yourself into a tense situation with the hope that someone else will initiate isn’t a crime in itself.