Rittenhouse Verdict An 'Unacceptable Message' To Armed Civilians

ACROSS AMERICA — Good morning! It’s Saturday, Nov. 20. If you’re still planning the menu for your Thanksgiving Day festivities, just remember — you don’t have to break the bank to create a delicious holiday meal. While you still have days to plan, here’s a look at the stories we’re following today:

• After 25 hours of deliberation, a jury found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges.
• Kamala Harris was president on Friday — well, for 85 minutes at least.
• The decades-old case of the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa has resurfaced. Tips are leading police to Jersey City.
• Mexico is busing teenagers to San Diego to get their COVID-19 vaccines.

Hours after a jury found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty of all charges in the fatal August 2020 shooting of two men during a chaotic night of protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, families and communities are coming to the terms with what this could mean moving forward.

Rittenhouse, 18, was acquitted of first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, and reckless endangerment.

John Huber and Karen Bloom were among those who spoke out Friday. Their son, Anthony, was one of the two men killed when cries for racial justice turned violent. Huber and Bloom blamed Kenosha police for the violence that took their son's life.

"Today's verdict means there is no accountability for the person who murdered our son," the statement read. "It sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence, and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people in the street." »Anthony Huber's Parents Speak Out After Rittenhouse Verdict, via Mount Pleasant-Sturtevant Patch

RELATED:

.Rittenhouse Acquitted In Fatal Kenosha Protest Shooting | Reactions To Rittenhouse Not-Guilty Verdict: Updates | Protests Planned After Not Guilty Verdict In Rittenhouse Case |

Black Pastors Rally 'Public Lynching': Attorney

For a fourth time during the trial for the three white men accused of killing Ahmaud Arbery, a defense attorney has complained in court about the presence of Black ministers and demanded a mistrial because of them.

A day after hundreds of Black pastors descended upon the Glynn County Courthouse for a lunchtime prayer rally and march through Brunswick, Georgia, Kevin Gough said that his client William "Roddie" Bryan Jr. could not get a fair trial.

"Just because they haven't put a podium up with a hangman's noose, doesn't mean this isn't a trial that's been infected by the woke left mob," Gough said in his complaint to Superior Court Judge Timothy Walmsley. "This is what a public lynching looks like in the 21st century." » Attorney Calls Black Pastors Rally 21st Century 'Public Lynching’, via Atlanta Patch

For 85 Minutes, Harris Makes History

President Joe Biden is back in charge of the country after presidential power was briefly transferred to Vice President Kamala Harris as he underwent a "routine colonoscopy" Friday that required anesthesia. This made Harris the first woman to serve as acting president of the United States — but only for 85 minutes. » VP Harris Made Brief History As 1st Woman With Presidential Power, via Across America Patch

Boosters For All

The U.S. government on Friday moved to open up COVID-19 booster shots to all adults, expanding efforts to get ahead of rising coronavirus cases that experts fear could snowball into a winter surge as millions of Americans travel for the holidays. » U.S. Expands COVID-19 Boosters To All Adults, Final Hurdle Ahead, via Across America Patch

Build Back Better Act Passes

Democrats brushed aside monthslong divisions and pushed their expansive social and environmental bill through a sharply divided House on Friday, approving the legislation by a near-party-line 220-213 vote. The measure will now go to the Senate, where cost-cutting demands by moderate Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin are all but certain to force significant changes. » Dems' Sweeping Social, Climate Bill Passes Divided House, via Across America Patch

RELATED: In Hourslong Rant, GOP's 'Angry' McCarthy Stalls Biden Bill

More national headlines on Across America and other Patches:

• The Week In Photos: Black Pastors Rally; Eclipse; Turkey Pardon
• 7 Photos Of Rare Lunar Eclipse Blood Moon, The Longest Since 1440
• Photos: 15 Holiday Films Coming To Theaters, Streaming Services

Around ‘The Patch’

A Texas appeals court in Fort Worth ruled Thursday that a hospital can't be forced to treat a COVID-19 patient in its care with ivermectin, a drug normally used to eliminate parasitic worms, via Austin Patch

The decades-old case of the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa has resurfaced after a worker offered agents a tip on his deathbed. Hoffa's body may be in Jersey City, via Across New Jersey Patch

Noah Clare, a 3-year-old Tennessee toddler taken by his father on a two-week journey across the country, was finally reunited with his mother and family members Thursday night, via Orange County, California, Patch

More local news:

• Ex-Cop, Kids, Accomplice Died In Apparent Murder-Suicide, via Towson, Maryland, Patch
• 3 NJ Cops Charged For Stomping On Black Teen: Feds, via Princeton Patch
• Phillies' Bryce Harper Wins National League MVP Award, via Norristown, Pennsylvania, Patch
• Penn State Student Died After Fall Down Trash Chute, via Across Pennsylvania Patch
• 10 Thanksgiving 2021 Recipes To Mix It Up: Cooking With Courtney, via Pleasanton, California, Patch
• Mexico Buses Teens To San Diego For COVID Shots, via San Diego Patch
• Old Bay For Thanksgiving? Try Their Honey Butter Dinner Rolls, via Baltimore Patch
• Adoption Awareness Month In Orange County: Every Conversation Matters, via Orange County Patch
• BeachLife Festival Announces 2022 Dates, via Redondo Beach, California, Patch

House Hunting

Here’s your chance to own a sprawling country estate just minutes from downtown Greenwich, Connecticut. Privately set behind gates, the property has a stone manor house, a pool house with guest quarters, and a carriage house fit for multiple people to work remotely.

This Day In History

In 1820, the American whaling ship Essex was rammed by a sperm whale and later sank, inspiring the climactic scene in Herman Melville's “Moby Dick.”

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