

Several of the demonstrators, including members of Jacob Blake's family, said justice wasn't given in the case. Outside the courthouse, opposing groups of protesters exploded with cheers and boos as the verdict was read. A Daily Caller reporter was at the scene of the Rosenbaum shooting and said a bullet whizzed past him.

Rittenhouse fired at an unidentified man twice before he shot Huber and Grosskreutz. Rittenhouse was acquitted on all five charges he faced: first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and two first-degree recklessly endangering safety counts. Prosecutors said Rittenhouse should have fled or fought without firing his gun if he feared for his safety, but the defense argued he thought the men could take his firearm and use it to kill him or others. While Rittenhouse argued he acted in self-defense, prosecutors said he provoked the attacks by bringing his AR-15 style rifle to the protest and pointing it at others, which the defense disputed.Īlthough Grosskreutz was armed with a pistol, Rosenbaum and Huber were not. Rittenhouse said he was in Kenosha to help the community during the unrest, but prosecutors painted him as a vigilante looking for trouble. Police mistreatment of people of color has become a cultural flashpoint on the left, just as social justice protests have for those on the right.īlake, whose shooting sparked the protests in Kenosha, was left paralyzed, and the white police officer who shot him was cleared of any federal or state charges.

Tears, yelling and calls for a mistrial: What a dramatic day could mean for the Kyle Rittenhouse murder trialĪlthough Rittenhouse is white, as were his victims, the shootings occurred during a racial justice protest. Rittenhouse's lawyers had sought to have a mistrial declared over alleged prosecutorial misconduct and issues with a key video in the state's case. The verdict also meant that Judge Bruce Schroeder did not have to rule on the defense's motions for a mistrial. Members of Rittenhouse's family, sitting behind him in the courtroom, were all spotted in tears. Rittenhouse then hugged one of his attorneys, Corey Chirafisi. By the last verdict, he appeared to collapse. As each not guilty verdict was read, Rittenhouse started to cry. Rittenhouse stood before the jury as the verdict was read. The case garnered national attention from the beginning, a reflection of the country's division over race, guns and politics. His attorneys argued he feared for his life and faced death threats from one of the men he killed that night. Rittenhouse, 17 at the time, faced charges ranging from intentional homicide to reckless endangerment. Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz during often violent protests in the summer of 2020 following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Kenosha, Wisconsin. – Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all charges against him Friday, including intentional homicide – the most serious of five charges against him in a case that largely divided America along political and racial lines more than a year after he shot three men during a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
