A LOOK BACK: | Nov. 19, 2021: Kyle Rittenhouse acquitted of deadly shootings in Downtown Kenosha

Kyle Rittenhouse’s legs gave out under him as a clerk read the verdict of a jury that had been deliberating for three-and-a-half days — not guilty on all counts.

The clerk shortly after 12:15 p.m. Friday read the verdicts one by one:

As the country awaits a U.S. Supreme Court decision in a New York state case that may create a federal constitutional right to carry guns outside the home, what lessons can the nation draw from the recent acquittal in Wisconsin of Kyle Rittenhouse and the convictions in the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia?

The obvious first lesson is that no one would be dead, maimed or going to prison if the men in these cases had not possessed firearms or had just left their weapons at home. The man Rittenhouse maimed learned that his self-proclaimed constant gun carrying not only did not protect him or others, but simply added him to the victim count when he pointed his gun at Rittenhouse.

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Kenosha Unified School District has cancelled tonight's after school activities in the city in abundance of caution after the Kyle Rittenhouse trial verdict.

Out of town after school events will go on as planned.

Reactions from community members to the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict ranged from relief to concern that the jury finding him not guilty may lead to another wave of violence in the city.

Many expressed reactions they did not want credit for in print or on a video.

Madison’s reaction to Kyle Rittenhouse’s acquittal went off Capitol Square Friday night, with activists holding a “speak out” at Penn Park on the South Side.

About 50 people gathered at the event, with a microphone and loud speakers available to anyone who wanted to speak their mind about Rittenhouse being found not guilty by a Kenosha jury. Freedom Inc., a social justice group, organized the gathering, where people arranged small candles under the pavilion at Penn Park to honor people in Madison who had been killed or injured by the police.

Regardless of which way the verdict went in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, it was a foregone conclusion there would be an emotional response.

Those reactions came on the steps of the Kenosha County Courthouse Friday afternoon after a jury acquitted Rittenhouse of all five charges he faced that stemmed from a shooting last Aug. 25.

In Judge Bruce Schroeder’s courtroom on Monday, a few attorneys sat waiting for cases to be called. The gallery sat largely empty as life returned to normal at the Kenosha County Courthouse.

As everyone in the courtroom waited as a lawyer spoke to his client before a hearing, the judge pulled out a deck of “Jeopardy” cards, as he often does during a lull, looking to keep the room occupied rather than sitting in awkward silence.

Kyle Rittenhouse has now said he regrets having been in Kenosha the night of Aug. 25, 2020, the night he killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and non-fatally shot Gaige Grosskreutz, during protests in Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

Rittenhouse stands by the decision to, in his words, “defended myself” when he was ran at and threatened by Rosenbaum, hit by Huber’s skateboard, and felt threatened by the gun-wielding Grosskreutz.

KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — A Wisconsin judge on Friday approved an agreement by lawyers to destroy the assault-style rifle that Kyle Rittenhouse used to shoot three people during a 2020 street protest.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said the state crime lab would destroy the gun, probably in April. Judge Bruce Schroeder, the Kenosha County judge who presided over Rittenhouse's trial, approved the agreement. Rittenhouse was not in court for Friday's hearing.