After a Rittenhouse acquittal, protestors in Kenosha turn their attention to fighting for Chrystul Kizer

• As Kyle Rittenhouse's case came to a close, Kenosha protestors focus on Chrystul Kizer's case.
• Advocates say Kizer is a sex trafficking victim and killed Randall P. Volar III in self-defense.

In the days following Kyle Rittenhouse's acquittal, Kenosha, Wisconsin protestors directed their attention toward fighting for justice for Chrystul Kizer.

Kizer, a Black teen, was charged in 2018 with first-degree intentional homicide — the same charge as Rittenhouse— in the murder of Randall P. Volar III. Kizer and her supporters maintain she was a sex trafficking victim.

Kizer traveled to Volar's house in June of that year and shot Volar twice in the head, claiming she grew sick of him sexually abusing and trafficking her.

She then set his house on fire and stole his car.

Protestors told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel they see the two men Rittenhouse, a white teen, killed during a protest for Jacob Blake last year as intentional murder while Kizer, a Black teen, killed Volar III for safety reasons.

"We've seen that Rittenhouse can get away with premeditated murder," said Jess Singh, a Kenosha resident and member of the Party of Socialism and Liberation, told the Journal Sentinel.

Adding, "Chrystul Kizer should be able to actually defend herself."

Volar III, a 34-year-old man, first met Kizer on the ad site, Backpage, when she was 16 years old. Kizer was hoping to make a few dollars to support herself financially with food and school supplies.

Kizer has received support from across the country. #MeToo Movement Founder ​​Tarana Burke is one of the many sexual assault and trafficker victims advocating for her case.

"The case of #ChrystulKizer requires our attention *before* she is convicted and given a life sentence," Burke shared on Instagram with a petition.

She was released from jail in June 2020 after groups including the Chicago Community Bond Fund raised more than $400,000 to cover her bail.

Kizer awaits trial for first-degree intentional murder and five other felony charges.

If convicted, the first-degree intentional murder alone carries a mandatory life sentence in the state of Wisconsin.

According to The Washington Post, Volar had previously been arrested on child sexual assault charges and had a history of abusing underage Black girls.

A trial date has still not been set in Kizer's case. And with the Rittenhouse verdict in the rearview mirror, protesters say their advocacy for Kizer's release will not stop until she receives justice.

They believe if Rittenhouse as a white man can claim self defense after killing two people during a protest, Kizer should be able to claim self defense as a sex trafficking victim.

"The anger that hits all people, Black people, white people, that are concerned about the racism that this country faces, is like — it just stabs you in the chest time and time and time again," Lorna Revere, a protestor, told the Journal Sentinel.