Kyle Rittenhouse found not guilty on all counts in Kenosha shootings case
KENOSHA - After nearly four full days of deliberation in a case that riveted the nation, a jury delivered its dramatic verdict Friday, acquitting Kyle Rittenhouse of killing two men, wounding another and endangering two more in a series of shootings during a night of protests in Kenosha last year.
In reaching not guilty verdicts, the jury agreed Rittenhouse, 18, acted in self-defense, a claim his supporters and lawyers made within a day of the events that made him a conservative cause célèbre.
The announcement came shortly after noon in a heavily guarded Kenosha County Courthouse.
Rittenhouse appeared to hold back sobs as the verdict was read. He dropped to his knees when the final "not guilty" was announced. He was helped back into his chair and hugged Corey Chirafisi, one of his attorneys.
Rittenhouse's mother and sisters cried on one side of the courtroom. On the other, three women who were engaged or related to the two people he killed also wept.
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After the verdicts were read, lead prosecutor Thomas Binger told the judge, "The jury, which represented our community in this trial, has spoke."
Later, his boss, Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley issued a statement that he also respected the verdict.
"Certainly, issues regarding the privilege of self-defense remain highly contentious in our current times," Graveley said. "We ask that all members of the public accept the verdicts peacefully and not resort to violence."
Mark Richards, a Rittenhouse defense attorney, spoke to a throng of reporters later outside his Racine office.
He said Rittenhouse was "on his way home."
"He wants to get on with his life. He has a huge sense of relief for what the jury did to him today. He wishes none of this would have ever happened. But as he said when he testified he did not start this. And we're thankful in more ways than one that the jury finally got to hear the true story."
A key moment in the case came when Rittenhouse took the stand in his defense.
"In Wisconsin, if you don't put a client on the stand, you're going to lose, period," Richards said during a news conference.
Rittenhouse, 18, faced five charges: first-degree reckless homicide for killing Joseph Rosenbaum, 36; first-degree intentional homicide for killing Anthony Huber, 26; and attempted first-degree intentional homicide in the shooting of Gaige Grosskreutz, 28.
He also faced two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment for shooting twice at an unidentified man, and in the direction of Richard McGinniss.
McGinniss, a videographer, was in the line of fire when Rittenhouse shot four rounds at Rosenbaum in less than a second.
Huber's parents, Karen Bloom and John Huber, said in a statement: "We are heartbroken and angry that Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted in his criminal trial for the murder of our son Anthony Huber. There was no justice today for Anthony, or for Mr. Rittenhouse’s other victims, Joseph Rosenbaum and Gaige Grosskreutz."
They added the "verdict means there is no accountability for the person who murdered our son.
"It sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence, and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people in the street. We hope that decent people will join us in forcefully rejecting that message and demanding more of our laws, our officials, and our justice system."
Political figures also weighed in.
"While the verdict in Kenosha will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included, we must acknowledge that the jury has spoken. I stand by what the jury has to say," President Joe Biden said when asked by reporters. "The jury system works.”
Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin tweeted: "I believe justice has been served in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. I hope everyone can accept the verdict, remain peaceful, and let the community of Kenosha heal and rebuild."
Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, a Democrat who is running for Johnson's seat, said "many dreaded the outcome we just witnessed."
"The presumption of innocence until proven guilty is what we should expect from our judicial system, but that standard is not always applied equally," Barnes said in a statement. "We have seen so many black and brown youth killed, only to be put on trial posthumously, while the innocence of Kyle Rittenhouse was virtually demanded by the judge."
Gov. Tony Evers, a Democrat, issued a statement urging the public to remain united and to move the state forward.
“No ruling today changes our reality in Wisconsin that we have work to do toward equity, accountability, and justice that communities across our state are demanding and deserve," he said.
Rittenhouse was 17 when he and his friend, Dominick Black, went to downtown Kenosha the evening of Aug. 25, 2020, to see the damage from two nights of rioting that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake Jr. two days earlier. A white officer, Rusten Sheskey, fired seven times at Blake's back at close range. Blake, a Black man, was left partially paralyzed.
Rittenhouse, Black and two others returned that night, armed with AR-15-style rifles to help protect a car business whose main lot had been destroyed by arson the first night. They were joined by another armed group that had arrived from Washington County.
Shortly before midnight, Rittenhouse ran alone to another location of the business after reports of cars being destroyed and burned there, where he encountered Rosenbaum, who had been acting aggressively and erratically toward militia-types all night. When Rosenbaum ran at him, Rittenhouse fled across a parking lot before turning and shooting Rosenbaum, who was unarmed, four times in under a second.
As Rittenhouse ran from that scene, other people began to chase him, yelling that he'd just shot someone. He fell to the street and fired two shots at an unidentified man who kicked him. Huber then struck Rittenhouse with a skateboard and grabbed his rifle before he was fatally shot in the chest.
Grosskreutz, who also ran up on Rittenhouse just as he shot Huber, stopped, stepped back and raised his hands before stepping toward Rittenhouse just as he shot Grosskreutz in the right arm. Grosskreutz had a handgun.
According to prosecutors:
Rittenhouse was a wannabe police officer, an untrained vigilante trying to live out a hero fantasy. He went looking for trouble among protesters he knew were hostile to him and his group, by offering medical attention. Rittenhouse claimed he was a trained EMT; he was not.
He had only fired his Smith & Wesson M&P 15 assault-style rifle during a single weekend up north in May before taking it downtown, loaded with 30 rounds of .223 caliber rounds.
He provoked Rosenbaum by pointing his rifle at a couple who had been hanging out with Rosenbaum that night. Prosecutors relied on videos from a drone, an FBI surveillance plane and a bystander on the ground.
They said Rittenhouse's use of deadly force was unreasonable in each instance, and therefore, not protected by the privilege of self-defense.
In the defense's version of events:
Rosenbaum earlier in the night had threatened to kill Rittenhouse if he caught him alone, and then "ambushed" him as Rittenhouse arrived at the car lot carrying a fire extinguisher.
Rittenhouse ran to a "box canyon" of cars and other protesters, and had no choice but to shoot Rosenbaum because he believed Rosenbaum meant to disarm him, kill him and shoot others.
Why four times? "He shoots until the threat was immobilized," defense attorney Mark Richards said in closing. "Others in this community shot someone seven times and it was found to be OK," he said, referring to Officer Sheskey, who was cleared by prosecutors for shooting Blake and didn't face any internal discipline.
"I'm glad he shot him, because if Joseph Rosenbaum had gotten the gun, I don't believe for a minute he wouldn't have shot others. He was irrational," Richards said.
Photos that supposedly show Rittenhouse raising his rifle are the result of digital "hocus pocus" that produced "out of focus" images.
Prosecutors said the men who chased down Rittenhouse after he shot Rosenbaum considered him an active shooter. They were trying to stop him from shooting anyone else. The defense said they were just rioters who wanted to "get in licks against someone from the other side."
Richards said his client was not an active shooter because he only shot at people who came at him. "That's a buzzword the state wants to use to excuse the actions of the mob."
During eight days of testimony, jurors heard from more than 30 witnesses, many of whom were present during the night's events. That included Rittenhouse, who said from the witness stand he did nothing wrong and was defending himself.
Both sides relied heavily on videos taken by several "citizen journalists" who were livestreaming the chaos and some aerial surveillance by the FBI. Each said the video evidence clearly supported their positions.
Judge Bruce Schroeder's handling of the case became a story of its own, starting from when he ordered that prosecutors could not refer to the people Rittenhouse shot as victims, but the defense could call them "looters, rioters and arsonists" if the evidence supported the labels.
Right before closing arguments Monday, Schroeder threw out the misdemeanor charge that Rittenhouse was a minor in possession of a firearm. The defense had argued that an exception in the poorly written statute allows 16- and 17-year-olds to carry rifles and shotguns anytime. Prosecutors said the provision is intended only to let teens who've completed safety classes hunt without adult supervision.
Rittenhouse, his mother and sisters had been living in Antioch, Illinois, last summer. He had relatives and friends in Kenosha, and just started a lifeguarding job in the county.
After leaving Kenosha after shootings, he surrendered to police in Antioch, and was held a Lake County, Illinois, juvenile detention center while he unsuccessfully fought extradition to Wisconsin.
Once he got to Kenosha, he was soon released on $2 million bail raised from hundreds of supporters on conservative news sites and social media, and among gun rights activists. Rittenhouse's original lawyer had called the case the most important case about self-defense in American history.
Richards expected a separate legal fight over who will get the bail money back.
After his release, his family lived in South Bend, Indiana, for several months. As the trial approached, they were living in Walworth County. Private security guards paid for by supporters guarded them at nearly all times, including inside the courthouse for Wendy Rittenhouse and her daughters when they watched the trial.
Richards said he doesn't expect Rittenhouse and his family will remain in Wisconsin. He said Rittenhouse wants to become a nurse.
Earlier this year, when the trial was still months away, Rittenhouse's handlers kept pushing his narrative and polishing his image on Twitter while constantly seeking donations for his defense.
The funds covered at least two mock trials, Richards said, during which he said became very clear that the odds for acquittal increased greatly when his client testified. The team also employed the services of Jo-Elan Dimitrius, who worked with O.J. Simpson's defense team.
In addition to the private security, Rittenhouse, his family and lawyers were trailed in recent days by a video crew gathering material for possible documentary film.
Though he's been cleared of any criminal responsibility for his acts, Rittenhouse will almost certainly now face civil lawsuits from the families of the people he killed and Grosskreutz.
Richards said he does not expect to represent Rittenhouse in any such cases because he specializes in criminal defense.
Contact Bruce Vielmetti at (414) 224-2187 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @ProofHearsay.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kyle Rittenhouse found not guilty on all counts in Kenosha shootings
