Rittenhouse, Arbery death trials reflect divisions on race, politics

The courtroom is the latest place where the nation’s yawning political and cultural chasm is on vivid display. 

Two criminal trials that are the subject of national attention, one centering on Kyle Rittenhouse’s shooting of three people in Wisconsin and the other on three men accused of murdering Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, reflect deep divides over race, guns and even basic politics. In a third case in Virginia, more than two dozen people face civil charges stemming from 2017’s white nationalist Unite the Right rally, which became an even larger point of cultural contention when then-President Donald Trump refused to condemn the participants.