Kyle Rittenhouse, the accused young man in the Kenosha riots who insists he acted in self-defense, broke down in tears on the witness stand today.

Prosecutors have called Rittenhouse a “teenage vigilante” who went to Kenosha with a firearm he should not have been in possession of in the first place, with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm. Rittenhouse has claimed that he was “protecting property,” but the law in Wisconsin, where the attack took place, does not provide for lethal force in the cause of defending property.

Many questioned the sincerity of Rittenhouse’s performance on the witness stand. It was theatrical, to say the least. Faced with the multiple charges he’s accused of, Rittenhouse needed to portray testimony that painted him as the victim rather than the perpetrator, and he tried his best to deliver it.

Vox‘s Aaron Rupar posted a clip of the young man “sobbing” on the stand as he attempted to depict a harrowing ordeal in which he was forced to act as he did:

Kyle Rittenhouse cries while testifying pic.twitter.com/ZyIn1pt6Za

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 10, 2021

The performance was hard to believe, however, as Rittenhouse and his lawyers were seen laughing and smiling in court this week.

You can judge for yourself.

Everybody is writing that Kyle Rittenhouse "cried." I watched the video. Not a single tear in his eye. He did, however, open his eyes for a moment while "crying" and glance over at the jury, tearless. No Academy Award here.

— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) November 10, 2021

I had to stop watching the Rittenhouse trial. He was fake crying. I know fake crying. I’ve done it a few times myself.

— Dr. Ginny McDonald (@GinnyMcDonald8) November 10, 2021

Rittenhouse was very well coached and rehearsed by the defense. They should have brought in a qualified Drama Coach to make his crying and crocodile tears and little more realistic…

— Barney Blather (@BarneyBlather) November 10, 2021

Kyle Rittenhouse was white privilege crying. I bet his mom was clutching her pearls too.

— Fromfarfaraway (@Fromfarfaraway2) November 10, 2021

He squeezes his eyes shut over and over to try to get some tears to roll out. Same thing little kids do when they fake cry.

— Jen K. (@jenkeen1k) November 10, 2021

Did he attend the Brett KavaNO school of acting? pic.twitter.com/7AIDQoa2r2

— D Villella ❄️ (@dvillella) November 10, 2021

Come on Aaron. Not a single tear. That's not crying. I have teenagers. I know what crying looks like.

— FinallyBackToReality (@CannotReality) November 10, 2021

https://twitter.com/ArtistAJ17/status/1458488391541137411

Did anybody else notice how no tears actually came out of Kyle Rittenhouse's eyes when he was "crying" about what might happen to him for murdering people?

— David Leavitt 🎲🎮🧙‍♂️🌈 (@David_Leavitt) November 10, 2021

I don’t know if Kyle Rittenhouse was fake crying.

I do know that he crossed state lines and shot three people, killing two of them.

I also know that if he weren’t white, he probably wouldn’t be on trial. Because he’d be dead.

— Pat Cunnane (@PatCunnane) November 10, 2021

Kyle Rittenhouse wasn't crying crocodile tears, but he sure as hell was crying "Kavanaugh tears."#Fresh#wtpBLUE

— We HearVoicesOutThere #voteBlue2024 (@WeHearPodcast) November 10, 2021

https://twitter.com/MikeKofiA/status/1458492116854886403

Lots of traumatic things happen to Black 18 year olds and they don’t live to cry about it. Kyle Rittenhouse went to a protest that was speaking out against that very thing and killed 2 people. Now he sits, alive and well, on a witness stand, CRYING about it.

ZERO sympathy. 🖕🏻

— Kate 🪬🤍🇺🇸 (@ImSpeaking13) November 10, 2021

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