Like T.R. Clancy on these pages two days ago, I railed at the moronic, breathless claim the mainstream media spewed that Kyle Rittenhouse crossed state lines.

As Mr. Clancy explained, the United States Interstate Commerce Law mandates the ability to wander among the states freely.  One doesn't have to actually be involved in commerce to travel.  Here, in the United States, one has the luxury to visit family, job-hunt, shop and/or sightsee, or move about the country without purpose or permission.

Four corners monument marker (cropped) by An Errant Knight.  CC BY-SA 4.0.

So why did the media make a false meme regarding Kyle Rittenhouse's purported felonious crossing of state lines?  With what nefarious activities did they want the public to mentally link Rittenhouse's crossing a state line?  Sadly, at least half of an ill informed populace, already polarized, brainwashed, and frustrated by COVID restraints, were thirsting for Rittenhouse's head on a pike — at least in part because he had the nerve to cross state lines. 

The whole "crossing state lines" thing emanates from the Federal White Slave Traffic Act, commonly known as the Mann Act, enacted in 1910.  The Mann Act was created to criminalize the transport of women and girls across state lines or internationally for prostitution, immorality, or trafficking.

It can also be illegal to take a firearm across state lines, unless the gun is legally owned in the states involved. 

Rittenhouse did not take a woman of any age across state lines.  Moreover, the firearm he used to defend himself was legally stored at a friend's house in Wisconsin.

When should we trust the mainstream media?  Obviously, never. 

Named after then–Illinois congressman James Mann, the Mann Act, formally known as the Federal White Slave Traffic Act, was originally enacted in June 1910.  The original law was loosely worded and expansive in its scope.  It criminalized the traffic of any girls or women between the states, or internationally for prostitution, immorality, or trafficking. 

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