There's a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.  Once again, I am giving thanks for my home and my family and for having the health to continue to work for these things.  This year, I'm adding thankfulness that Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted.

To be clear, I don't agree with the politicization of Kyle Rittenhouse.  The left is screaming that he is a monster, and there are those on the right who are screaming just as loudly that he's a hero.  I don't see Kyle as a monster or a hero.  I see him as a kid who wanted to help when Kenosha was struck with riots.  Kyle said he wanted to protect Car Source, a dealership that had been targeted by the mob.

When he got into his fatal confrontations, he was not at Car Source.  He was out on the street.  I understand that.  It would be hard on the nerves just to stand in front of a piece of property while a city is being sacked around you.  If Kyle had stuck to his original plan, he probably wouldn't have gotten into those confrontations.  To paraphrase Sir Walter Scott, Kyle was like a man who tries to stop a runaway horse by clutching at the stirrup rather than the rein, injuring himself while failing to stop the horse.

However, Kyle was not breaking any laws that night when he was walking around, and I don't believe he was looking for trouble, or even trying to provoke trouble.  He wasn't an outsider in Kenosha.  He actually has strong ties to that community.

He didn't bring his gun across state lines.  He had a legal right to possess that particular gun.  He targeted only people who physically attacked him, putting him in fear of his life.  As Kyle stated after the trial, self-defense is not illegal.  He has also stated that he actually supports Black Lives Matter.

Image: Kyle Rittenhouse hugs his attorney.  Rumble screen grab.

Joy Reid of MSNBC would beg to differ. She has gone on the record to say Kyle Rittenhouse is like a modern-day slave-catcher.  Reid claims that Kyle murdered civil rights allies Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber with impunity.  She warns that BLM activists should be afraid of Kyle's acquittal because she believes that it will give white supremacists an excuse to go out and kill black protesters.

Reid's viewpoint is equal parts nonsense and bigotry, but she does have a point.  Anyone who wants to loot and burn down businesses and beat people up in the street should be afraid now.  Rioters should be thinking twice now because ordinary Americans are fed up with being told they cannot protect themselves and their businesses every time an angry mob wants to "protest."  The police are there to protect citizens against violence, but if the police are not allowed to do their job when political considerations come into play, citizens are going to protect themselves.

A quote often attributed to George Orwell holds that "we sleep soundly in our beds at night because rough men stand ready to visit violence upon those who would do us harm."  No one wants violence, but those who would do us harm have been out of control for some time now.

Going forward, it is my hope that Kyle's acquittal will be a wake-up call.  I hope the government wakes up to realize that allowing riots to spin out of control benefits no one.  I hope citizens who want to assist the police form volunteer militias where all members will be trained and supervised, and no one will be out on the street alone as Kyle was.  Most of all, I hope Kyle will be all right.  He has a rough road ahead of him.  At least he will be home with his family and his friends for Thanksgiving.  I'm thankful for that.

Pandra Selivanov is the author of The Pardon, a story of forgiveness based on the thief on the cross in the Bible.

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