Kyle Rittenhouse: Mother defends ‘very fair’ judge amid controversies and slams Biden in Fox interview
Wendy Rittenhouse appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program on Thursday night after the defence rested its case
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Kyle Rittenhouse’s mother has praised the “very fair” judge overseeing her son’s homicide trial after he came under scrutiny for a series of rulings perceived as biased toward the defence.
Wendy Rittenhouse appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program on Thursday night after the defence rested its case, with closing arguments slated to begin early next week in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Judge Bruce Schroeder has faced heightened calls for removal from the case after chaos erupted in the courtroom on Wednesday as Mr Rittenhouse took the witness stand.
Critics say the judge showed bias toward the defence by repeatedly admonishing prosecutor’s questions, accusing them of acting in “bad faith”, and considering a bid to throw out video of the moment Mr Rittenhouse shot his first victim over questions about the reliability of iPad’s “pinch to zoom” feature.
Outrage grew on Thursday when Judge Schroeder - Wisconsin’s longest-serving circuit judge - made an off-colour joke about supply chain backlogs and Asian food as the court discussed a lunch break.
Doubts about the judge’s impartiality have loomed over the case from the start, after he forbade the use of the term “victims” to describe the three men shot by Mr Rittenhouse, while allowing politically-charged words such as “riot”, “looters” and “antifa”.
The defendant’s mother dismissed those doubts in her interview with Mr Hannity on Thursday.
“The judge is very fair,” Ms Rittenhouse said.
“People that I talk to who lived in Kenosha all their lives say Judge Schroeder is a very fair judge, and he does not allow nonsense in his courtroom.”
The mother said the judge has ensured a fair trial despite liberal efforts to defame her son led by President Joe Biden, whom she accused him of painting Mr Rittenhouse as a white supremacist in a bid to win the election last year.
During the presidential race, Mr Biden’s team used footage of Mr Rittenhouse parading through Kenosha on the night of the shootings in campaign videos in an effort to associate his rival Donald Trump with white supremacists.
After Mr Trump refused to condemn the far-right Proud Boys during a debate, Mr Biden’s team tweeted a photo of Mr Rittenhouse with the caption: “There no other way to put it: the President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage last night.”
Ms Rittenhouse said she was “shocked” and “angry” when she saw Mr Biden’s team using her son’s image.
“President Biden don’t know my son whatsoever,” she told Mr Hannity. “He’s not a white supremacist, he’s not a racist.
“He did that for the votes and for a while I was so angry at him. And what he did for my son - he defamed him.”
Ms Rittenhouse said she is confident that the jury is taking the case seriously and will come to the right decision.
“They have been keeping a close eye on every evidence, every testimony, and they are paying good attention to what was said. That’s the truth,” she said.
She also shared how difficult it’s been to watch the trial unfold from the gallery - particularly when videos from the night of the shootings are shown.
“I thought my son was going to die that night,” she said. “When I look at the video with that guy pointing a gun to my son’s head I thought he was going to die. This guy just pointed a gun at his head.
“It took a long time to... just to grasp that he was alive. And knowing that he is with me, I’m grateful and I’m relieved that he’s OK.
“But he has a lot of healing to do. He does have nightmares from this.”
Mr Rittenhouse, 18, is facing five charges including homicide and minor in possession of a weapon for shooting three people - two fatally - during racial justice protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on 25 August 2020.
He faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted of the most serious charges.
On Wednesday, the defence announced it will file a motion for a mistrial with prejudice for “prosecutorial misconduct”. Judge Schroeder said he would take the motion under advisement.