While Kyle Rittenhouse’s civil counsel now claims he has sued Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg for defamation… the reality is that those suits will fail. CBS should never settle. The claims will fall, as truth is an absolute bar under US law to recovering for defamation.

And the remarks will be taken in context, not isolation. The Rittenhouse family became public figures, of their own volition — with the mother repeatedly making public appearances and speaking at GOP fundraisers, for the far-right (and the NRA — but I repeat myself). Kyle became a public figure when he was seen on video, firing on, and killing unarmed protesters, with that unlawful-in-his-hands… AR-15.

So, these purported libel / slander / defamation suit(s) will fail — and may even permit the nominal defendants (supposedly to include then-candidate, and now- President Biden, the NYT and others) to recover their attorneys’ fees, directly from Kyle (not that he’ll be able to pay, mind you). I should note that the morons equating him to that lil’ Sandmann buffoon — who interrupted a peaceful chant by indigenous peoples on the National Mall… are just that: idiots. Kyle killed two, with his AR-15 — he didn’t just try to derail some chanting. He killed humans — the standard for whether he was “defamed” will be much, much higher.

Afterall, he was caught on video, calling for a right to shoot two black men in the street, three weeks before that night in Kenosha… and caught on video, cold-cocking a teen girl, with closed fists, just a month before the night in Kenosha… and seen in pictures, drinking (underage) with the Proud Boyz while flashing Separatist hand-signs, after making bail. That makes it hard to claim the various statements about him have / had no basis, in fact.

But my more direct point is that other civil suits — brought by the families of the dead and wounded in Kenosha — will have solid outcomes against Kyle (and any funds raised for him will be available to pay those damages). He is not likely ever to amass any real personal wealth, nor is his mother. But the attorneys in his camp are already squabbling over the bail money — some $2 million, plus interest, raised for him. He will never see a penny of that. [His lawyers will, and have claimed it all as fees, and retainers.]

The wounded, and the estates of the dead, should sue him though, just in case he ever has any money in his hands. He (like OJ before him) was well-beyond merely negligent, in causing the deaths of the two victims, and the horrific injuries — to a third.

And negligence is all that is required here. It was negligent (and more) for a 17 year old to violate the curfew, and to do so, while armed with an AR-15 — a weapon he was not lawfully allowed to carry (as a minor, out after a lawful curfew order, on a city street in Wisconsin). It was negligent at least, for him not to leave the scene, as soon as ordered by police — and as soon as the protest passed him by without incident.

Instead, he marched back into the fray, looking for a confrontation. That led to two deaths. That too was… negligence, at least, on his part.

And the juries in federal courthouses will in a few years, so find. Just like the Goldmans — against OJ, two decades ago now.

But for now, we may ignore the suit by the Denver attorney against Kenosha police. It will go… nowhere. On qualified immunity grounds alone — the police and sheriffs will escape liability, here. I do not think that a wise law, but it is the law.

Onward now, into a cold but sunny mountain bike riding Sunday morning…. smile.