Kyle Rittenhouse trial: Defence says teenage shooter could have been beheaded by skateboard
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Your support makes all the difference.Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial began Tuesday with opening arguments, just a day after the judge presiding over the case established a jury.
Opening remarks began Tuesday morning, with Kenosha County District Attorney Thomas Binger relating the events of the night of the shooting and claiming Mr Rittenhouse went looking for conflict. Mr Rittenhouse’s defense attorney, Mark Richards, argued that he was running away from attackers who were “enraged” and trying to “separate his head from his body” with a skateboard.
Mr Rittenhouse faces seven charges - including first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless homicide - after he shot and killed two men and injured a third during a racial justice protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Mr Rittenhouse’s lawyers are expected to argue that he killed in self defense.
The men Mr Rittenhouse shot were Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, who both died following the incident. Gaige Grosskreutzm, 26, was wounded but survived.
The case became yet another flashpoint for political polarisation in the US; some people on the left saw Mr Rittenhouse as a heartless killer who brought an AR-15 to a racial justice protest, while some people on the right - including right wing media figures - portrayed him as a young man simply protecting himself from riotous mobs.
Due to the divisive nature of the case, nearly a dozen jurors were dismissed after they revealed they had biased views on the case or questioned their ability to deliver a fair verdict. Some potential jurors also reportedly did not want to participate over fear of violent backlash from the supporters and enemies of Mr Rittenhouse.
The trial has already sparked frustration, as Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder told the prosecution that they could not refer to the men Mr Rittenhouse killed as “the victims” because it is a “loaded term,” but could refer to them as “looters” or “rioters.”
Rittenhouse trial to go on break for lunch
Following the conclusion of defense attorney Mark Richards’ opening remarks, the trial will take a lunch break.
The trial will resume around 1:15CT (2:15EST).
Defense attorney Mark Richards says client Kyle Rittenhouse had no requirement to flee conflict or administer aid
Mark Richards, Kyle Rittenhouse’s defense attorney, said during his opening statement that his client had no legal compulsion to run away from people threatening him or to administer aid to the injured, even though he was reportedly attending the protests in Wisconsin as a medic.
He makes the point about Mr Rittenhouse not being required to flee because many states require an individual to show they were actively trying to avoid conflict before responding with deadly force if they wish to argue they killed in self defense.
Opinion: Why might a judge be going easy on Kyle Rittenhouse? I have a theory
Skylar Baker-Jordan writes in The Independent’s Voices that he believes he knows why Circuit Judge Bruce E. Schroeder is “going easy” on Kyle Rittenhouse.
“...My first thought when reading about how lenient Judge Bruce E. Schroeder is being in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, the accused gunman who allegedly opened fire on protesters in Kenosha, Washington last year – killing two men and wounding another – was to check to see if he is elected. Sure enough, in Wisconsin, circuit court judges are elected at the county level for a term of six years,” he writes.
To read the rest of his argument, check out the link below...
Why might a judge be going easy on Kyle Rittenhouse?
Perhaps Judge Schroeder has his own career in mind
Kyle Rittenhouse trial resumes
The Kyle Rittenhouse trial has resumed after a short lunch break.
Both the Kenosha County prosecutors and Mr Rittenhouse’s defense attorney made their opening remarks this morning.
Testimony beings in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial
Witnesses have begun giving testimony in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.
Dominick Black, who was dating Mr Rittenhouse’s sister at the time, is the first witness to take the stand.
He has discussed spending time with Mr Rittenhouse at a family home in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where the shooting occurred.
Mr Black was the one who bought Mr Rittenhouse the AR-15 rifle that he used on the night of the protest to kill two men and wound a third.
He said Mr Rittenhouse wanted to purchase a gun and offered to give Mr Black the money so that he could purchase the gun for him. He said he told Mr Rittenhouse it was a “bad idea” because he was not yet 18, but they reached an agreement that he would purchase the gun and keep it at his house until Mr Rittenhouse was 18.
Dominick Black, who was dating Kyle Rittenhouse’s sister, identifies gun he bought for shooter
Dominick Black, who was dating Kyle Rittenhouse’s sister, identified the AR-15 he bought for the then-17-year-old during his testimony on Tuesday.
Mr Black accompanied Mr Rittenhouse on 25 August, the night the shootings occurred. He told Kenosha County District Attorney Thomas Binger he was on the roof of a car lot during the night of the protest.
He said he told Mr Rittenhouse that buying him a gun was a “bad idea” because he was not yet 18, but said they reached an agreement in which he would buy him the gun but keep it at his house until he was of age.
Dominick Black recalls phone call he got from Kyle Rittenhouse: “I shot somebody, I shot somebody"
Dominick Black, the man who purchased the AR-15 that Kyle Rittenhouse used to kill two men and injure a third during racial justice protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, said he received a call from the man immediately after the shooting.
“I shot somebody, I shot somebody,” he recalled Mr Rittenhouse saying.
He said Mr Rittenhouse was “freaking out,” and that he and his friends tried to calm him down. Mr Rittenhouse allegedly told him that he had to shoot people because they were attacking him.
Mr Black said he told Mr Rittenhouse to turn himself in, and took him home because there were rioters outside the police department in Kenosha.
Dominick Black facing two felony charges for buying Kyle Rittenhouse his AR-15
Dominick Black, the man who bought Kyle Rittenhouse the AR-15 he used to shoot and kill two men and injure a third during a racial justice protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is facing two felony charges for providing the then-17-year-old Mr Rittenhouse the gun.
The Kenosha County District Attorney said he was personally bringing the charges against Mr Black, and confirmed that he had made no agreements or deals in exchange for his testimony during Mr Rittenhouse’s trial.
Defense attorney suggests Dominick Black agreed to testify to avoid prison
During a cross-examination, Kyle Rittenhouse’s defense attorney Mark Richards suggested that Dominick Black - the man who bought Kyle Rittenhouse the AR-15 he used in a shooting that left two people dead and a third wounded - agreed to testify in order to avoid going to prison on two felony charges he is facing.
He asked Mr Black if he hoped to avoid prison by agreeing to testify. Mr Black agreed.
No deals have been struck between Mr Black and the Kenosha County District Attorney. Mr Black said he did not know what, if anything, he would get as a result of testifying.
Dominick Black, who bought Kyle Rittenhouse the AR-15 he used in Kenosha shooting, was at Antioch police station when he turned himself in
Dominick Black, the man who bought Kyle Rittenhouse the AR-15 he used to shoot and kill two people and injure a third, confirmed during a cross-examination that he was with the man when he turned himself in to Antioch, Illinois, police.
Mr Black said he initially suggested Mr Rittenhouse turn himself in, but they could not reach the Kenosha police department because protesters were blocking their path. Instead, the men returned to Mr Rittenhouse’s hometown of Antioch, Illinois, where Mr Rittenhouse turned himself in to police.
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