Steve Kerr: America ‘Treading Down a Dangerous Path’ After Kyle Rittenhouse Verdict

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Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr provided remarks in his pregame press conference Friday in response to a Wisconsin jury finding Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty of homicide and other charges following the shooting and killing of two men and the wounding of another during protests for racial justice in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020.

A transcript of Kerr’s full remarks (via KNBR’s Danny Emerman) and video (per Connor Letourneau of the San Francisco Chronicle) can be found below.

Earlier in the day, the 18-year-old Rittenhouse was found not guilty of first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety.

The Antioch, Illinois, resident attended a protest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake two days earlier, claiming he was on scene to protect a car dealership and provide medical assistance.

Brothers Sam and Sahil Khindri, whose family owns the car dealership, said in court they did not ask for protection from Rittenhouse and a group of armed men that congregated on the lot. Rittenhouse’s claims about being an EMT also proved to be false.

Rittenhouse said that the three men he shot—Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony M. Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz—attacked him and that he was defending himself.

Prosecutors said Rittenhouse provoked the entire incident by pointing his Smith & Wesson M&P 15 rifle at Rosenbaum, who was unarmed. Rosenbaum and Huber were killed, and Grosskreutz was wounded.

Regarding Kerr, the Warriors head coach has long been an outspoken advocate for stricter gun laws in the United States. He notably called for gun control in March after separate mass shootings in Atlanta and Boulder, Colorado, left 18 people dead.

“It’s just mindboggling to me that we can just continue to cater to the very small minority in this country,” Kerr said, per CNN’s George Ramsay.

“Again, 90 percent of Americans, regardless of political affiliation, support background checks. We go through drivers’ school and drivers’ safety. And we have to apply for a license to drive a car. Nothing like that with a gun?…A lot of us are just angry.”

Kerr has also spoken out after shootings in Florida, Texas, Las Vegas and California, among others.

The issue is personal for Kerr, whose father, Malcolm, was shot and killed by gunmen in January 1984 when he served as the president of American University in Beirut.

“That’s why this issue is very near and dear to my heart because my family had to deal with the loss of my dad and my mom’s husband, and we’ve had to deal with the aftermath ever since,” Kerr said in March, per Ramsay.

Kerr’s comments occurred prior to the 13-2 Warriors’ road game against the Detroit Pistons in Little Caesars Arena.