Thomas Binger

About

Thomas Binger, also known simply as Binger online, is the prosecutor in the trial of the 2020 Kyle Rittenhouse Kenosha, Wisconsin Shootings that took place in November 2021. Binger is most known online for certain questions he asked Rittenhouse on the stand that some online thought were speculative, as well as a moment during the trial where he pointed a gun at the courtroom with his finger on the trigger. Memes about both instances appeared across platforms like Twitter, Reddit and 4chan, among others.

Background

Before acting as the prosecutor in the Kenosha, Wisconsin trial, Thomas Binger had worked as the assistant district attorney for Kenosha County for seven years. According to the New York Times,^[1] Binger is the county's second-best prosecutor, coming behind the county's district attorney Michael Graveley, who apparently decided to not take the Rittenhouse case due to already being busy with a different investigation involving a police shooting.^[1] Binger has also worked in the Milwaukee County prosecutor’s office, as well as for private law firms. Additionally, Binger has run for district attorney in the neighboring county, Racine County, under Democrat affiliation. It is also reported that Binger has had disagreements with the acting judge on the Rittenhouse case, Judge Bruce Schroeder.

Online History

Clashes With Judge Schroeder

Starting most notably on November 10th, 2021, videos and quotes from the trial began surfacing online of clashes in the courtroom between Binger and Judge Schroeder. At one point on November 10th, a video emerged of Judge Schroeder telling Binger, "Don't get brazen with me," which was sparked by Binger uttering speculation in the courtroom related to Rittenhouse having premediated thoughts about shooting people before the incident. A video of this moment (shown below) was tweeted by Twitter^[2] account @Mediate on November 10th that received over 150 likes in roughly six days.

"Don't get brazen with me!"

WATCH: Judge Bruce Schroeder absolutely torches Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger during Kyle Rittenhouse's trial. pic.twitter.com/6TBJ8piJEQ

— Mediaite (@Mediaite) November 10, 2021

Memes related to Binger prosecuting Rittenhouse began appearing online as more and more instances of him asking speculative questions began to emerge. A picture of Binger holding his iPhone up during questioning led to meme attention online after it became an exploitable format. For example, on November 10th, 2021, Twitter^[3] account @8EyedEel posted a tweet using the screenshot with the caption, "One ticket for 'Joker' bought in 2019. You went to the theater without a girlfriend, is that correct Mr. Rittenhouse?" The tweet (shown below) received roughly 32,400 likes over the course of six days. It also inspired other memes^[4] to be made using the image, where meme creators photoshopped different things onto Binger's iPhone screen.

More memes emerged using the concept of Binger asking Rittenhouse questions in the days following. On November 14th, 2021, Redditor Ykitgvbryhb uploaded an image to the /r/MemeEconomy^[5] subreddit that used a new, three-panel template of Binger asking Rittenhouse a question. The meme (shown below) received 243 upvotes before it was taken down by the moderators.

Thomas Binger Pointing a Gun

On November 15th, 2021, Thomas Binger pointed the same AR-15 rifle that was used in the shootings at the jury with his finger on the trigger, though the gun was unloaded. According to the New York Post,^[6] Binger pointed the rifle at the jury during his closing statements in an attempt to quickly reenact the shooting. Binger's demonstration also warranted comparisons to the recent Alec Baldwin shooting. A photograph of it was captured by Getty Images (shown below), which inspired memes shortly after.

People on social media labeled this as a misstep in Binger's prosecution. The optics of him pointing a gun in court while demonstrating improper gun safety were inherently upsetting to some. People began to post memes using the image, both captioning it and using it as an exploitable, photoshopping Binger into different images. Twitter^[7] account @GranTorinoDSA captioned a Binger image in a tweet posted soon after the incident on November 15th, 2021. The tweet (shown below) received roughly 2,000 likes in less than 24 hours.

Twitter^[8] account @DickMolesterson started photoshopping Binger pointing the gun into different images, attaching four of these images to a tweet he sent on November 15th, 2021. Two of the images (shown below) have Binger photoshopped into scenes from Scarface and The Matrix. The tweet received 56 likes in less than 24 hours.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References