He said he was afraid his rifle was going to be wrested away and used to kill him. I defended myself.”īreaking into sobs at one point, he told the jury he opened fire after Rosenbaum chased him and made a grab for his gun. Prosecutors portrayed Rittenhouse as a “wannabe soldier” who had gone looking for trouble that night and was responsible for creating a dangerous situation in the first place by pointing his rifle at demonstrators.īut Rittenhouse testified: “I didn’t do anything wrong. Rittenhouse was 17 when he went from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to Kenosha after businesses in the city were ransacked and burned over the shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, by a white police officer.Ĭarrying a weapon that authorities said was illegally purchased for the underage Rittenhouse, he joined other armed citizens in what he said was an effort to protect property and provide medical aid.īystander and drone video captured most of the frenzied chain of events that followed: Rittenhouse killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, then shot to death protester Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded demonstrator Gaige Grosskreutz, now 28. Tony Evers pleaded for calm and said 500 National Guard members would be ready for duty in Kenosha if needed. Rittenhouse could have gotten life in prison if found guilty on the most serious charge, first-degree intentional homicide, or what some other states call first-degree murder.Īs the verdict drew near, Gov. The jury, which appeared to be overwhelmingly white, deliberated for close to 3 1/2 days. The former police youth cadet is white, as were those he shot.

He had been charged with homicide, attempted homicide and reckless endangering after killing two men and wounding a third with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle during a tumultuous night of protests over police violence against Black people in the summer of 2020.

Rittenhouse, 18, cried and hugged one of his attorneys upon hearing the verdict. Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum after the man chased him in a parking lot during a confrontation-it’s alleged Rosenbaum reached for the rifle.Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges Friday after pleading self-defense in the deadly Kenosha shootings that became a flashpoint in the nation’s debate over guns, vigilantism and racial injustice. Rittenhouse killed two men and shot and maimed a third with an AR-15 after going to Kenosha to protect a car dealership he thought could be harmed during the protests. Rittenhouse, now 18, faced charges of first-degree reckless homicide, two counts of first-degree intentional homicide, and two counts of reckless endangerment of safety after shooting and killing two men in August 2020 during protests against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin. “You will be whisked out of here if you do anything,” he said. He warned the crowd that if there was a large reaction, there were plenty of county sheriffs in the room.

Family members and loved ones of those he killed also populated the courtroom.īefore the verdict was read Judge Bruce Schroeder told the courtroom that he didn’t want any reaction to the jury’s decision. Rittenhouse, dressed in a dark blue suit, watched pensively as the jury read out his fate. After four days and over 25 hours of deliberation, the jury returned to the Kenosha, Wisconsin, courthouse on Friday to read out the fate of the teenager who killed two and injured a third in a shooting last summer.

Kyle rittenhouse guilty or not guilty