Lawsuit Filed Over Role of Militia Facebook Page in Deadly Kenosha Protest

While the criminal case against Kyle Rittenhouse, the young man who shot and killed three people at a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin last month, winds its way through court, a new civil case has been filed against him, the leaders of two local militias and Facebook.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, was brought by Hannah Gittings, the girlfriend of one of Rittenhouse’s victims, protesters Christopher McNeal and Carmen Palmer, who say they were assaulted by armed militia members, and Nathan Peet, who witnessed the shooting.

Together they claim Kevin Mathewson, founder of the Kenosha Guard, Ryan Balch, the “tactical adviser” of local chapter of the Boogaloo Bois militia, and Rittenhouse threatened, intimidated and assaulted them in violation of their civil rights.

Militia members, armed with military-style weapons and wearing military-style clothing and gear, reportedly showed up at the demonstration under the auspices of helping to keep the peace and protect private property.

“We have an army. We do not need people playing army— particularly when their targets are engaged in the expression of fundamental rights,” the lawsuit says.

Facebook provided the platform through which the other defendants successfully conspired – despite receiving hundreds of complaints about the Kenosha Guard’s Facebook page in advance – and is therefore also liable, lawyers for the plaintiffs argue.

The fatal shootings took place in Kenosha the night of Aug. 25 during demonstrations against racial injustice sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake two days earlier. Blake was shot in the back, at point-blank range, seven times by an officer as he opened the door to an SUV that afternoon.

Rittenhouse was among dozens of armed vigilantes who took to the streets in the days after Blake’s shooting. The 17-year-old from Illinois was driven to the city by his mother and dropped off there. Hours later he shot three protestors, killing two of them and wounding the other, then walked down the middle of the street and later returned home. The events were mostly caught on videotape, which was later broadcast by media outlets on television and online.

“Perhaps the worst part of this organized deprivation of rights and dignity is that it all could have been prevented,” the lawsuit claims.

Mathewson used the Kenosha Guard’s Facebook page to recruit counter-protesters to gather in Kenosha Aug. 25 “despite being aware of the explicitly violent rhetoric and threats” posted on the group’s event page, the lawsuit says. The court filing includes screenshots of user comments on the Facebook page dedicated to planning the militia’s activities.

“In the days prior … Facebook, who provides the platform and tools for the Kenosha Guard, Boogaloo Bois, and other right-wing militias to recruit members and plan events, received more than 400 complaints and flags concerning the Kenosha Guard site and event page. Reports stated the page was mired in violent rhetoric, with the reporters expressing that they were deeply concerned the Kenosha Guard was going out that night looking to intimidate and injure people protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake,” the complaint says. “In other words, Facebook received more than 400 warnings that what did happen was going to occur.”

Days after the deadly demonstration, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company made an “operational mistake” in not removing the Kenosha Guard’s Facebook page prior to the event, ABC News reported. In response to the tragedy, Facebook “designated” the shooting as a mass murder, he said, and removed the Guard’s page and Rittenhouse’s account.

Gittings was the life partner of Anthony Huber, one of the people Rittenhouse killed. McNeal says he was assaulted and harassed by members of the militias. Palmer says she was threatened, pepper sprayed and her tires were slashed. Peet says he witnessed, and filmed, Rittenhouse shoot his first victim.

Rittenhouse is being held in custody in Illinois and faces homicide charges in Wisconsin. His extradition hearing is scheduled to take place Sept. 25. His lawyers have said he acted in self-defense.

This week’s lawsuit is at least the second filed in connection with the protests against police brutality and racial injustice in Kenosha. Earlier this month, a group of demonstrators arrested during the protests filed a class action lawsuit saying they were discriminated against based on “the content of their message.” They claim the city and county of Kenosha violated their First Amendment rights by selectively enforcing the law when Kenosha Police and Kenosha County Sheriff’s department officers arrested them for breaking a curfew, but not others who were on the streets at the same time. Those others included the armed militia members referenced in the Gittings lawsuit.

Looking ahead, the plaintiffs in the new lawsuit argue Facebook’s practices might well endanger others by providing a platform for armed militias and others dissatisfied by the results of this year’s general elections, Business Insider noted in its reporting on the lawsuit.

President Donald J. Trump’s public refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power, should he lose, “could easily result in the tools and platform that Facebook continues to provide these armed groups being used to broadcast, promote, and prepare another Call to Arms, but this time in our nation’s capital.”

Did you experience threats or intimidation, or were you assaulted by militia members at the racial injustice protests in Kenosha? Have your civil rights been violated by organized counter protestors using Facebook to conspire to do so? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

Gittings and the other plaintiffs are represented by Jason Flores-Williams of the Law Office of Jason Flores-Williams and Jennifer D. Sirrine of 21st Century Law.

The Facebook Page Deadly Kenosha Demonstration Class Action Lawsuit is Hannah Gittings, et al. v. Kevin Mathewson, et al., Case No. 2:20-cv-1483, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin.

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