Without naming Rittenhouse by name, Evers declared Saturday that roughly 500 Wisconsin Army National Guard troops would report for state active duty to "support local partners in ensuring public safety in conjunction with hundreds of officers from volunteering law enforcement agencies."
"We continue to be in close contact with our partners at the local level to ensure the state provides support and resources to help keep the Kenosha community and greater area safe," Evers announced. "The Kenosha community has been strong, resilient, and has come together through incredibly difficult times these past two years, and that healing is still ongoing. I urge folks who are otherwise not from the area to please respect the community by reconsidering any plans to travel there and encourage those who might choose to assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights to do so safely and peacefully."
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"We stand ready to support our communities during times of need," said Maj. Gen. Paul Knapp, Wisconsin's adjutant general. "In close coordination with the governor, we have assembled approximately 500 Soldiers to help keep the Kenosha community safe, should a request from our local partners come in."
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Members of the Wisconsin National Guard will be in standby status outside Kenosha, Wisconsin, to reply to requests from local authorities, Evers's statement announced. Troops "may not be used to impede the ability of people to peacefully protest or impede the ability of the media to report," the release continued.
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Officials are preparing for the probability of disorders in reaction to a verdict in the trial of Rittenhouse, who has pleaded not guilty to seven charges. The defense for Rittenhouse arrested Thursday, and jurors have since been preparing for deliberation.
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Many critics have employed racial language to impugn Rittenhouse's emotional testimony in his own defense, with President Joe Biden naming the teenager a "white supremacist." Liberal pundits have denounced and jeered at Rittenhouse's courtroom sobbing, stating that his display of emotion amounted to "crocodile tears," among other allegations.
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Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the August 2020 incident though now is 18, stands blamed for killing Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and grievously injuring Gaige Grosskreutz after tumults erupted in Kenosha in response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
The judge in the case signaled Friday he may "inform the jury" of narrow gun law exemptions after the defense sought acquittal for a misdemeanor charge in the case.
Rittenhouse faces life in prison if convicted.
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