Why hasn't prosecutor Thomas Binger been arrested yet?

According to the photos we've all seen, he pointed an AR-15 at members of the gallery in an active courtroom as part of his closing arguments, with his finger on the trigger.  Bugs would say, "What a maroon!  What an ignoranimus!"

I say, "Lock him up!"

In Wisconsin, it is illegal to point a gun at someone.  Thus, Wis. Stat. §941.20(1)(c) makes it a Class A misdemeanor with a potential penalty of nine months in jail and a $10,000 fine if someone "intentionally points a firearm at or toward another."  Lawyers licensed to practice criminal law in the state would know that.  Certainly, no prosecutor would be ignorant of this because it has enhancement potential for any gun-included crime.  Any self-respecting bar association would bounce out an attorney who committed such an act.

It's a separate violation to point a gun at a law enforcement officer (Wis. Stat. §941.20 [1m][b]).  Did Binger point that gun at the bailiff?  Perhaps there is a blurry video somewhere we can parse to figure this out.

He also directed the gun toward the jury, according to press reports.  Does anyone have the lead prosecuting attorney menacing the jury with a dangerous weapon on his Rittenhouse trial bingo card?  Wisconsin law (Wis. Stats. §939.22[10]) includes in its definition of a dangerous weapon "any firearm, whether loaded or unloaded."

This legal travesty was a loser from the get-go.  Binger and Kraus must have drawn the short straws to be stuck prosecuting such a political dog of a case.  If they lose...well, they could say at least that they tried.

Image: Binger takes aim.  YouTube screen grab.

By now, however, the district attorney must be thinking he drew the short straw having these guys on his team at all.  Who could have imagined a prosecutor telegraphing a verdict to the jury as Kraus did when he put his head in his hands during Gaige Grosskeutz's testimony?  Did anyone anticipate Binger asking so many questions that he did not know the answer to, especially when he questioned why Kyle Rittenhouse considered the town where his father lived to be his community?

Does Binger have any mitigating circumstances that allow for his unlawful act?  There was a lot of talk on the part of the prosecution about provocation negating self-defense.  That section of the law (Wis. Stats. §939.48) begins with just such a mitigation: "A person is privileged to threaten or intentionally use force against another for the purpose of preventing or terminating what the person reasonably believes to be an unlawful interference with his or her person by such other person."

Nah, I don't think Binger could reasonably claim that the jury, or the gallery, or the bailiff was planning to unlawfully interfere with his person.  What a petulant display of abject stupidity on his part!  Nine months in the pokey might just cure it.

Anony Mee is a retired public servant.

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