In our fast-paced media cycle, it feels like an eon since the Kyle Rittenhouse case.  Despite prosecutorial misconduct, politics at its worst, and biased media coverage, justice was served.  Teenager Kyle Rittenhouse was found innocent of homicide on all counts.  No riots, no problem.  Our Republic still stands.

Young Kyle's acquittal was handed down less than two weeks ago, but a recap might be helpful to appreciate how close we came to further irreparable damage to our republican system.

The former police youth cadet, only 17 at the time, said he went to Kenosha to protect property from violent rioters.  The evening ended with him shooting and killing Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, while injuring Gaige Grosskreutz, 26.  While the prosecutors portrayed him as a vigilante out for blood, Rittenhouse testified that he fired purely in self-defense.  He pleaded not guilty to all counts.

The twelve-person jury deliberated for more than three days and found the 18-year-old not guilty of, among other charges, homicide and attempted homicide.

The jurors showed they dared to stand for what is right instead of playing to politics and what is expedient.  And shortly afterward, in Georgia, a nearly all-white jury found three white men guilty of murder in the Ahmaud Arbery case.

God bless America.

In the Rittenhouse case, the prosecution and defense attorneys argued dramatically different versions of events that played out that night in Kenosha.  Prosecutors said Rittenhouse was a "dangerous" instigator who acted out of reckless disregard for others' safety.

Image: Kyle Rittenhouse.  Fox News screen grab (cropped).

The defense said he was trying to help his community, keep order, and provide first aid but was chased and attacked and ultimately had to defend himself.  His attackers were those determined to replace America's law and order with anarchy and lawlessness.

While we as a nation can mourn for the victims' families, we can't expect people in a state in which carrying firearms is perfectly legal not to protect themselves when under attack.  The videos presented during the trial showed that Rittenhouse was pursued, kicked in the head, and hit in the head by a skateboard and had a gun aimed at his head.  Law and order are the basic foundations of America's freedom — and those foundations include the right to self-defense.

The far left has decried the verdict as a massive miscarriage of justice, and some of its philosophical adherents might have burned down the town of Kenosha had it not been for the 500 National Guard troops on hand, who deserve a medal for keeping the peace.  Instead, this week, U.S. defense secretary Lloyd Austin said the Pentagon would not fund National Guard troops who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19.  Thanks for protecting Kenosha.  You're fired.

The anonymous jury, whose racial makeup was not disclosed by the court, deliberated for just three and a half days, asking to re-watch videos of the violence from that night.

Rittenhouse could have been sentenced to life in prison had he been found guilty on the most serious charge: first-degree intentional homicide (what some states call first-degree murder).  The two other charges carried more than 60 years behind bars for each count.  Yet the jurors came through with the truth.

Above all, let's try to remember that jury members refused to cave into political or media pressure.  They simply did their job.  As a result, we have a criminal justice system that works even when the rest of society breaks down — and an innocent teenager has his life back instead of life in prison.  But would the hard left care one iota if an innocent man was deprived of freedom for the rest of his years?  Hardly.  Just a means to an end, to install full-fledged totalitarianism rule over the great unwashed masses.

But that did not happen — our Republic doth shine as the brightness of the northern star.

Michael A. Letts is the CEO and Founder of In-VestUSA, a national grassroots non-profit organization helping hundreds of communities provide thousands of bulletproof vests for their police forces through educational, public relations, sponsorship, and fundraising programs.  (If you'd like to speak with Mr. Letts, contact Jerry McGlothlin at 919-437-0001 or jerry@specialguests.com.)

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.