Comic book artist Pia Guerra posted a cartoon she created to Twitter shortly after the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict. It depicts Kyle Rittenhouse standing over the dead body of Anthony Huber. Rittenhouse has his left foot on Huber’s corpse, smiling while posing with a Black Lives Matter flag in his hand as if it’s some sort of trophy.
Guerra also included the words “Open Season” along with a #KyleRittenhouse Twitter hashtag.
The cartoon conveys the message that Rittenhouse was some sort of great white hunter who viewed Huber as his prey. It gives the impression that Huber is less than human in the eyes of Rittenhouse because he was a peaceful protestor and a supporter of Black Lives Matter (BLM).
It’s a powerful image. it’s also almost completely untrue.
We know it’s Anthony Huber under Rittenhouse’s foot because of the skateboard. It was Huber that used a skateboard as a weapon, beating Rittenhouse in the neck and head area as he laid on the ground. A video of the attack was shown in court. It clearly showed Huber was the one who instigated the interaction with Rittenhouse, not the other way around. Huber hunted down Rittenhouse and tried to kill him. If Rittenhouse didn’t defend himself by shooting Huber once in the chest, their outcomes would have most likely been reversed.
It wasn’t allowed in court, but Anthony Huber was not a nice person. He was a violent felon.
From Insider:
Huber pleaded guilty in 2013 to two felony counts of strangulation and suffocation, and false imprisonment, court records showed. According to a criminal complaint, Rittenhouse’s defense attorneys cited without the jury present, Huber had pulled a knife on his brother and grandmother, and choked his brother amid an argument about housecleaning. Kenosha County jail records show that Huber spent a little over four months behind bars and was released on probation.
To imply that Rittenhouse shot and killed Huber because he was displaying a BLM flag, is dishonest. Huber had no flag. To then also warn people that it’s “Open Season” for BLM supporters is beyond dishonest. It’s reckless propaganda. What does Pia Guerra want people to do, hunt down and kill Kyle Rittenhouse before he can do it to them? Remember, according to her, it’s open season on BLM supporters.
I retweeted Guerra’s tweet with the comment “So dishonest.”
So dishonest. https://t.co/YbdapKNFcj
— Rick in Maryland (@RLRottman) November 19, 2021
Pia Guerra responded by blocking me. Which is fine. She saved me the step of unfollowing her. I originally followed her because I’m a fan of her comic book work. What I’m not a fan of are people who spread false information, especially when it can possibly lead to violence. I think her dishonest propaganda cartoon rises to that level.
Update
Ian Crumbley, Pia Guerra’s Canadian husband must search Twitter for his wife’s name. Late last night he responded to the tweet I made sharing this post.
Ian Boothby then blocked me. It must run in the family.
What a strange, little man. Did he worry that I was going to respond in kind? Was he afraid I was going to tell him to “double fuck off”? I don’t do things like that.