Tyrese Sherrod,
Frankie Cooks of Kenosha, standing at the courthouse steps shortly after Rittenhouse’s acquittal, wasn’t angry over the outcome. She said she couldn’t be sure jurors got it wrong.
The complaint from Cooks, who is Black, was that she has never heard of Wisconsin’s self-defense laws working in favor of those in her community.
“Rittenhouse wouldn’t have been acquitted if he was a Black man,” Cooks said.
For Cooks it’s personal. She said her 20-year-old son, Tyrese Sherrod, is charged with opening fire at several men who she says attacked him at a Kenosha gas station in October. He faces five felony counts, including first-degree recklessly endangering safety and first-degree reckless injury, according to the Kenosha News.
According to a complaint and video in the case, at least one person who Sherrod shot at had earlier pulled a gun on him. After Sherrod fired around 10 shots, he reportedly fled the scene.
“I’d like to see them handle his case — the case of a Black kid — like they handled this one,” she said. “I want to see that.”
Rittenhouse’s acquittal created fear that protesters against racial injustice and other causes will be in danger from right-wing causes that already deemed Rittenhouse a hero after the shootings. The Rev. Jesse Jackson, the longtime civil rights leader and activist, told The Associated Press that it suggests “it’s open season on human rights demonstrators.”
“The concern over this verdict is compounded by the fact that (Jacob) Blake, who was originally the issue, was shot by a policeman seven times in the back. He’s in a wheelchair today, paralyzed forever. And that policeman is walking the streets of Kenosha, on the force today,” Jackson said.
A20-year-old Kenosha man, suspected in a gunfight on Sheridan Road last month, still is without an attorney, which has delayed the case.
Tyrese Sherrod, who is in custody in the Kenosha County Jail on a $100,000 cash bond, waived his right to a preliminary hearing in Kenosha County Circuit Court on Thursday morning.
Sherrod, who appeared in court Thursday via video, is due back for a status conference Dec. 16, at 1 p.m., before Commissioner Larry Keating. Sherrod faces five felony counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, a felony count of first-degree reckless injury and three misdemeanor counts of criminal damage to property.
The defendant is accused of firing about 10 rounds from a handgun Oct. 22, in the vicinity of the Gulf Gas Station, 5922 Sheridan Road. The gunfight happened after five males got into a fight, according to the complaint. A second defendant, Dantaeran A. Adams, 21, Kenosha, was struck by one of the bullets.
Adams is charged with misdemeanor counts of carrying a concealed weapon, pointing a firearm at another and obstructing an officer.
Bullets also struck K9 Kibble, 5919 Sheridan Road, and two vehicles, the complaint states.