Kyle Rittenhouse trial: Anger as judge who banned word ‘victims’ lets witness call protesters ‘antifa’
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The trial of accused killer Kyle Rittenhouse resumed Thursday morning after an especially chaotic day in court.
Today the defence plans to introduce a number of new witnesses, including a doctor and a police officer.
Mr Rittenhouse, 18, has been charged with homicide in the deaths of two men he shot during a night of protests and riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year – Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26. He also shot a third man, Gauge Grosskreutz, who was wounded but survived.
Yesterday, Mr Rittenhouse broke down crying during emotional testimony in which he insisted he acted in self-defense and “didn’t do anything wrong.”
In another dramatic moment, his lawyers motioned to declare a mistrial, citing “prosecutorial misconduct.” The defence accused prosecutors of violating Mr Rittenhouse’s rights by mentioning his silence in the wake of the 25 August 2020 shootings and by referencing a video that was previously deemed inadmissible.
If the motion is granted, Mr Rittenhouse cannot be tried again for the same crimes.
If Mr Rittenhouse is convicted, he could face life in prison.
Speaking of crying and courts...
Kyle Rittenhouse isn’t the only one on trial right now in a case about alleged right-wing street violence. Two dozen neo-Nazis and white nationalists are currently being sued in Charlottesville, Virginia, for their participation in the infamous 2017 Unite the Right rally that descended on the city and killed one while injuring many others. Somewhat unexpectedly, the discussion in the courtroom on Thursday moved away from the facts of the rally and towards critical race theory, the academic school of thought that’s increasingly become a conservative bogeyman, thanks to questions from Christopher Cantwell, the so-called “Crying Nazi,” who is one of the defendants. Here’s the full story on the bizarre turn in Virginia today:
Chris ‘Crying Nazi’ Cantwell asks about critical race theory in Charlottesville case
Two dozen right-wingers are on trial for their alleged roles in the violence at the 2017 Charlottesville rally
Did prosecutors try to alter police statements in the Kyle Rittenhouse case?
A defence witness at the Kyle Rittenhouse trial accused prosecutors of pressuring him to change his police statement.
Nathan DeBruin is a freelance photographer who was covering the racial justice protests where Mr Rittenhouse shot three men, two fatally, on 25 August 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
During his testimony for the defence on Tuesday, Mr DeBruin described a pretrial meeting with prosecutors where he said he was urged to add a detail to his police statement about the shootings. Megan Sheets has more here.
Rittenhouse trial witness says prosecutors pressured him to change police statement
Defence witness Nathan DeBruin is a freelance photographer who was covering the racial justice protests where Rittenhouse shot three men in Kenosha, Wisconsin
The other other high-profile violence trial this week
All across the country, trials are examining high-profile incidents where gun culture and racism allegedly fueled multiple homicides.
In addition to the Rittenhouse trial in Wisconsin, and the ongoing suit against accused neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, jurors in Georgia are considering the murder case against a trio of men who gunned down Ahmaud Arbery, a Black jogger. Today, the court in the Georgia case focused on a number of factors, including the defence’s charged claim that “We don’t want any more black pastors in here.” Bevan Hurley looked into the latest.
Defense lawyer says family supporters might ‘intimidate’ Ahmaud Arbery jury
Kevin Gough argued high-profile Ahmaud Arbery supporters could influence the jury
Did Kyle Rittenhouse judge Bruce Schroeder make a racist joke during the trial?
Among the many strange moments so far in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial was a joke that judge Bruce Schroeder made on Thursday, saying he hoped the “Asian food” the court had ordered for lunch wasn’t “on one of those boats from Long Beach Harbor.”
Some commentators felt the remark was racist.