Facebook post gets details about Kenosha response wrong

As the Wisconsin National Guard was activated Nov. 12 in preparation for a verdict in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, a viral meme questioned why that didn’t happen last year. 

The meme, shared on Facebook, says, "500 National Guardsmen being called to Kenosha ahead of the Rittenhouse verdict. Had they done this in the first place, there wouldn’t have been a trial." 

The post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

The claim implies that the National Guard was not in Kenosha in August 2020 when Rittenhouse, then 17, shot three people, two of them fatally. But Gov. Tony Evers called in the National Guard on Aug. 24, and the guardsmen arrived the same day. The Rittenhouse shooting happened the following day, Aug. 25. 

The events that unfolded in Kenosha that summer began on Aug. 23, when Jacob Blake was shot in the back by a police officer who was trying to arrest him on an outstanding warrant. Blake was left paralyzed. He had been armed with a knife during the encounter, and the officer was not charged with a crime. 

A bystander’s video of the shooting circulated widely and reignited protests that had blanketed the U.S. earlier in the year, after police brutality against other Black people such as George Floyd. Protesters poured into Kenosha, the New York Times reported. 

The day after the Blake shooting, protests grew violent, with more than 30 fires set and dozens of buildings destroyed. Evers activated the National Guard and 125 members arrived in Kenosha on the night of Aug. 24.

On Aug. 25, Rittenhouse was invited by a friend to go to Kenosha to protect a car dealership during the protests. He has testified that he went to provide first aid. He was armed with an AR-15. 

That evening, just before midnight, Rittenhouse shot three people, killing two and wounding the third. He is charged with intentional homicide, reckless homicide and other crimes, and he has pleaded self-defense.

Featured Fact-check

Edward Flynn

stated on February 9, 2012 in an interview

Says 85 percent of Milwaukee shootings involve "people with extensive criminal records shooting other people with extensive criminal records."

A Facebook post says, "500 National Guardsmen being called to Kenosha ahead of the Rittenhouse verdict. Had they done this in the first place, there wouldn’t have been a trial." 

The claim implies that the National Guard was not present in Kenosha when Rittenhouse shot three people, two of them fatally. 

The National Guard was activated and arrived in Kenosha on Aug. 24, 2020. The Rittenhouse shooting happened the following day, Aug. 25, 2020.

We rate this claim False. 

CORRECTION, Nov. 22, 2021: We corrected an inaccurate description of how George Floyd was killed by a police officer.