In more news from the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, a video has resurfaced of a key witness for the defense, and it is not pretty.
Drew Hernandez, an Arizona man who calls himself a “professional commentator,” was in Kenosha to cover the protests happening there and happened to record video of the events surrounding Rittenhouse and his victims.
As he appeared in court on Thursday, Hernandez repeatedly used the word “antifa” to describe protesters. Antifa is, of course, not a group but a contraction of the word “antifascist.” The prosecution grilled Hernandez on why he would have spliced together videos taken separately at the scene by both his cell phone and body camera. Hernandez even admitted to posting social media messages that could appear to support Rittenhouse in his actions that night.
But as it turns out, there’s a very good reason someone like Hernandez would support Kyle Rittenhouse: He believed in the same cause.
A video has resurfaced on Twitter showing Hernandez — who was among those who participated in the riot at the US Capitol on January 6 — shouting into a megaphone just days before the “Stop the Steal” rally.
In the video, Hernandez screams:
USA! USA! USA! That will be the rally cry until every single one of us bleeds for this country. I don’t know if you saw this last night, but I saw antifa get absolutely mopped on the floor by the Proud Boys. You want to know why? Because police officers have their hands tied by leftists. They’re not allowed to fight back — yet. But we do! We do, we punch back! We fight back! We are not gonna stand here and be little pansies and allow antifa and Black Lives Matter to intimidate us.
…
It’s your time to rise! Because we will not go down without a fight! We will not go down without bl00dshed!
…
Let me just say what’s on all of your minds: If they want a second civil war, then they’ve got one!
Well. That’s terrifying. But in one video, the guy that the defense brought in to talk about how Rittenhouse was the victim invoked not just the white nationalist group that Rittenhouse has been associated with, but condemned peaceful BLM protesters and warned of a new civil war.
I wonder if Judge Schroeder will allow this in court:
Key witness for the Rittenhouse defense Drew Hernandez attended the Jan 6th Capitol riot.
Shortly before Jan 6th. Drew Hernandez called for “bloodshed” and a “second civil war” at a rally with J6 organizer Ali Alexander. pic.twitter.com/Pwuk94xKzF [1]
— Chad Loder (they/them) (@chadloder) November 11, 2021 [2]