The Rittenhouse Trial: A Summary

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On August 25, 2020 — the third night of a Black Lives Matter protest
in Kenosha, Wisconsin, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who travelled to Kenosha from Antioch, Illinois, shot three men; killing two and injuring one. Rittenhouse testified “he shot out of self-defense” and “didn’t do anything wrong.” He has since been acquitted on all charges.

Rittenhouse began his testimony by stating he went to Kenosha to “clean up graffiti” and to “provide first-aid.” He stated that he had no intentions of causing trouble and was only there to protect local businesses. Since Wisconsin law forbids minors to legally carry handguns, but allowed rifles, Rittenhouse decided to have his friend purchase an AR-15 for him since it “looked cool.” Later that night after being separated from his group, Ritten- house’s first of many events followed.

A shot rang out from the crowd amidst the protest at around 11:40 PM. People then began lunging at Rittenhouse after seeing that he was carrying a firearm. He subsequently fired four shots back into the crowd.

Of the three victims from that night, Joseph Rosenbaum was the first. Rittenhouse testified that Rosenbaum had threatened him with malicious in- tent and would kill him “if [he caught] any of [them] f**kers alone.”

Rosenbaum was seen in footage from protesters chasing Rittenhouse around a Car Source dealership and throwing a plastic bag at him. Ritten- house claimed he only pointed his gun at Rosenbaum because “he kept running at [him] and [he] didn’t want [Rosenbaum] to chase [him],” given that Rosenbaum had threatened to kill him earlier that night. As Rosenbaum lunged towards Rittenhouse, he was shot four times — once in the head, killing him.

The second victim was Anthony Huber, a 26 year-old skateboarder.Footage from nearby protesters show Huber attempting to take his gun and put an end to the situation. As Ritten- house tripped and fell to the ground, Huber took his skateboard and “struck him in the head.” As Huber tried to strike again with his “other hand [going] for the gun,” Rittenhouse shot him in the chest.

The last victim was 26 year-old paramedic Gaige Grosskreutz, who was injured but not killed. Grosskreutz was originally at the scene to provide first aid to the protestors. He believed Rittenhouse was the active shooter, ex- plaining that “people were pointing out the defendant, saying he had just shot somebody”. He pulled out his handgun and pointed it at Rittenhouse. Though he did not fire, Rittenhouse then shot Grosskreutz in the bicep. Grosskreutz has since undergone several surgeries and lost 90 per cent of his bicep.

Following that night, Rittenhouse was charged with first-degree inten- tional homicide, first-degree attempted intentional homicide, first-degree reck- less homicide, two counts of first-de- gree recklessly endangering safety, failure to comply with emergency order from state or local government, and possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18 years-old.

On November 1, 2021, the trial began, and after four days of deliberat- ing, Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges. Five of the seven charges involving homicide and endangerment were dropped, as his actions were deemed in “self-defence”.

The charge of failure to comply with emergency order from state or local government was dropped due to the lack of evidence offered by the prosecutor.

The last charge, possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18, was dismissed as it was considered legal. Wisconsin bans possession of handguns by people under 18, but per- mits possession of long-barreled rifles for hunting. Since Rittenhouse’s rifle had a barrel longer than 16 inches, his charge was dismissed.

Many public figures and politicians were very disappointed in the results of the trial. The President, Joe Biden, even stated that “many Americans [were left] feeling angry and con- cerned, [himself] included.”