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November 22, 2020 09:56 AM UTC

Dudley Brown Helps Spring Accused Killer Kyle Rittenhouse

  • 8 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols
Dudley Brown of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners.

AP reports via the Denver Post that Kyle Rittenhouse, a minor accused of killing two people after crossing from his native Illinois into the state of Wisconsin with an assault rifle during riots over police violence in Kenosha last August, is out on bail:

A 17-year-old from Illinois who is charged with killing two people during a protest in Wisconsin and whose case has become a rallying cry for some conservatives posted $2 million bail Friday and was released from custody.

Kyle Rittenhouse is accused of fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz during a demonstration Aug. 25 that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. He posted bond through his attorney at about 2 p.m., Kenosha County Sheriff’s Sgt. David Wright said…

His case has taken on political overtones. Supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement have painted Rittenhouse as a trigger-happy white supremacist. Conservatives upset over property destruction during recent protests have portrayed him as a patriot exercising his right to bear arms during unrest. A legal defense fund for him has attracted millions of dollars in donations, and his mother got a standing ovation from women at a Waukesha County GOP function in September.

Right after Rittenhouse’s arrest in August, Colorado’s foremost gun rights activist Dudley Brown of Rocky Mountain Gun Owners announced he was raising funds for Rittenhouse’s legal defense. We don’t know how much of the $2 million bail posted was Dudley’s money, but by September Brown’s National Foundation for Gun Rights (as he calls his fundraising operations outside Colorado) said they had amassed $50,000 on Rittenhouse’s behalf.

Rittenhouse’s case has become a cause celebre for the right wing owing to his tender age and the supposed urgency of his need to cross state lines with an assault rifle and kill people during the Kenosha riots. But the reality is that Rittenhouse’s presence on the streets of Kenosha with his assault rifle was a crime all by itself. The idea that Rittenhouse was somehow justified in traveling out of state into a riot zone with an assault rifle he could not even legally carry is simply ridiculous. As a test case for gun rights, this case is terrible for the gun lobby, but once the movement seized on Rittenhouse as a sympathetic figure these facts were lost in the din.

So what happens next? Well, as AP reports, there is real concern that Rittenhouse will jump bail given the seriousness of the charges he faces–and unfortunately, there is in all likelihood a large network of “law abiding gun owners” happy to assist such a flight from justice. The bail money raised in that event would be disposable, of course, but we suspect most of the donors won’t object.

For the sake of the families of the people Kyle Rittenhouse killed, we hope that doesn’t happen.

If it does, it will easily rank among Dudley Brown’s worst offenses–and that is no small statement.

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8 thoughts on “Dudley Brown Helps Spring Accused Killer Kyle Rittenhouse”

  1. A couple of the more salient 1600+ comments from WaPo publication of same news item:

    Wisconsin state law thankfully is very clear about this:

    (a) A person who engages in unlawful conduct of a type likely to provoke others to attack him or her and thereby does provoke an attack is not entitled to claim the privilege of self-defense against such attack, except when the attack which ensues is of a type causing the person engaging in the unlawful conduct to reasonably believe that he or she is in imminent danger of death or great bodily harm.

    He took a weapon he could not legally carry to a Black Lives Matter protest in case he wanted to dole out some vigilante justice. He got exactly what he wanted and did exactly what he went to that protest to do — shoot people. Unlawful conduct? Check.

    Likely to provoke others? You can't argue that Rittenhouse was completely justified shooting an unarmed person for running toward him, but that counter-protesting with an assault rifle in favor of police violence was not likely to provoke a violent reaction. It's a ridiculous argument to make. 

    2. The National Association for Gun Rights, Inc. is approved as a non-profit tax-exempt advocacy organization under section 501(c)(4) .

      "The National Association for Gun Rights’ legal defense arm, the National Foundation for Gun Rights works to expand pro-gun precedents and defend gun owners. "  It is a 501(c)(3) organization.

      Under Internal Revenue Service rules, a 501(c)3 is a non-profit for religious, charitable or educational purposes. These types of non-profits typically conduct research and can only engage in a limited amount of lobbying, advocacy or political activity.

      Donations to 501(c)3 groups are tax-deductible.

      A 501(c)4 is a social welfare group and can engage in more advocacy and lobbying. A U.S. Supreme Court ruling allows businesses and unions to donate unlimited money to 501(c)4 groups, and they can be tied to so-called “super PACs” which raised and spent millions on political advocacy during the 2012 election.

      Donations to 501(c)4 groups are not tax-deductible, and donors are often not disclosed.

    3. NAGR is Dudley Brown’s national lobbying and advocacy organization, and basically functions as his cash cow. The NFGR is still Dudley’s org and cash cow, but has a slightly different mission- legal defense of gun owners that ran afoul of local gun control laws. 
       

      RMGO focuses on Colorado and local “ 2nd amendment” issues and politicians, specifically funding “pro-gun” politician's campaigns, and threatening, intimidating or recalling those perceived to be anti-gun. 
       

      When I did a deep dive into Brown’s finances a couple of years ago, he was a multi-millionaire whose organizations take in much more from gullible donors than they put out in donations. It’s a great racket for him.

      1. Does Dudley aspire to become the new Wayne LePierre, long-time (since 1991) executive vice president and CEO of the National Rifle Association [and with other titles since 1977]??

  3. Makes perfect sense . . .

    . . . for the Dudlettes, the expression of Second-Amendment gun rights has always been about the right to shoot other people with military grade assault weapons without any restriction or gubbermint interference.

    . . . and, btw, you can bet your bullets that Dudley is taking his cut on the fundraising.

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