ST. LOUIS — One verdict with many ripple effects.
The outcome from the Kyle Rittenhouse trial could change the way protests look like in the future.
Rittenhouse was facing five charges after fatally shooting two men and hurting another during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer.
Rittenhouse traveled from Illinois to Kenosha after the Jacob Blake shooting.
Many have mixed emotions about the verdict, some saying it validates Second Amendment rights.
Others said there's no way to justify what happened.
However, the results are in and prosecutors cannot appeal the not guilty verdict, essentially meaning once a jury has returned a not guilty verdict, the case is over.
So what's next?
5 On Your Side spoke with an activist and retired captain of the Missouri State Highway Patrol who led the response in Ferguson back in 2014.
Both say future demonstrations can be impacted, if change happens now.
Activist Maxi Glamour said they fight for Black liberation and was able to raise their voice through protests all last year.
"A lot of times when we're out there, we get people intentionally trying to hit us with their cars, people waving guns at us, people screaming racial slurs and it's a really, really dangerous place to be in. But we feel often that we don't have any more options left," they said.
Feeling helpless and a final ruling by a jury Friday could add pressure to that.
"I think this is going to create a dichotomy in which they feel like they need to arm themselves. It's not going to be the police because we're protesting the police, because where do they use our armed forces on? Us! And so it's going to be a lot of people, you know, bringing their own guns. I'm scared," Glamour said.
To be ready, Ron Johnson, a retired Missouri State Highway Patrol captain, believes more needs to be done.
He's familiar with what's at hand. Johnson led the police response in the Ferguson unrest in 2014.
"I think it's important to put some rules in place. We have to definitely keep working on our gun laws, but put policies in place to ensure that individuals can't embed themselves into such protests and let police officers throughout this country do their job," Johnson said.
He explained it's important to make changes now.
"I think now with that opportunity, we need to look at these cases. We've had them before, we had them in Ferguson. We had individual group that came out with weapons and we addressed them, and we always were worried that we can have some similar to what happened in Kenosha. We made contact with individuals and watched their movement," Johnson added.
Plus, Johnson gives a recommendation to police.
"We have protestors, rioters and those who incite. It's important that as law enforcement we begin to separate that and understand protestors have their First Amendment rights and address those other two groups with all the authority that we can," he said.