Kyle Rittenhouse found not guilty on all charges
Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and fired a bullet that tore a chunk off the arm of Gaige Grosskreutz, 28.
Kyle Rittenhouse speaks with his attorneys before the jury is
relieved for the evening during his trial at the Kenosha County
Courthouse in Kenosha, US, November 18, 2021.
(photo credit: SEAN KRAJACIC/POOL VIA REUTERS)
A jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse
on Friday on charges that he murdered two men and attempted to kill a
third with his semi-automatic rifle during chaotic 2020 racial justice
protests in Wisconsin, determining that the teenager acted in
self-defense.
A
12-member jury found Rittenhouse, 18, not guilty on two counts of
homicide, one count of attempted homicide and two counts of recklessly
endangering safety during street protests marred by arson, rioting and
looting on Aug. 25, 2020 in the working-class city of Kenosha.
US
President Joe Biden on Friday said he would "stand by" a Wisconsin
jury's decision to acquit teenager Kyle Rittenhouse of murder in the
fatal shooting of two men. "I stand by what the jury has concluded,"
Biden told reporters. "The jury system works. We have to abide by it."
Biden urged people to express their views peacefully and consistent
with the rule of law. Biden said in a statement he had spoken with
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers to offer support and any assistance needed
to ensure public safety.
"Violence and destruction of property have no place in our democracy," Biden said in the statement.
Protesters demonstrate outside the Kenosha County Courthouse, during
the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, US, November 17,
2021. (credit: BRENDAN MCDERMID/REUTERS)
His trial polarized America, highlighting gaping divisions in US society around contentious issues like gun rights.
Rittenhouse
shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and fired a
bullet that tore a chunk off the arm of Gaige Grosskreutz, 28.
In
reaching their verdicts after more than three days of deliberations,
the jury contended with duelling narratives from the defense and
prosecution that offered vastly different portrayals of the teenager's
actions on the night of the shootings.
The defense argued that Rittenhouse had been repeatedly attacked
and had shot the men in fear for his life. They said he was a
civic-minded teenager who had been in Kenosha to protect private
property after several nights of unrest in the city south of Milwaukee.
The unrest followed the police shooting of a Black man named Jacob Blake, who was left paralyzed from the waist down.
The
prosecution portrayed Rittenhouse as a reckless vigilante who provoked
the violent encounters and showed no remorse for the men he shot with
his AR-15-style rifle. Live-streamed and dissected by cable TV pundits
daily, the trial unfolded during a time of social and political
polarization in the United States. Gun rights are cherished by many
Americans and are enshrined in the US Constitution even as the nation
experiences a high rate of gun violence and the easy availability of
firearms.
Rittenhouse, who testified that he had no choice but to open fire to protect himself,
is viewed as heroic by some conservatives who favor expansive gun
rights and consider the shootings justified. Many on the left view
Rittenhouse as a vigilante and an embodiment of an out-of-control
American gun culture.
Protests
against racism and police brutality turned violent in many US cities
after the police killing of Black man George Floyd in Minneapolis three
months before the Kenosha shootings.
The
Rittenhouse verdict ended the highest-profile US civilian self-defense
case since a man named George Zimmerman was acquitted in the fatal
shooting of Trayvon Martin, an unarmed Black teenager, in Florida in
2013.
With so much
of that night in Kenosha caught on cellphone and surveillance video,
few basic facts were in dispute. The trial instead focused on whether
Rittenhouse acted reasonably to prevent "imminent death or great bodily
harm," the requirement for using deadly force under Wisconsin law.
The
prosecution, led by Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas
Binger, sought to paint Rittenhouse as the aggressor and noted he was
the only one to kill anyone that night.
FULL METAL JACKET
Rittenhouse's
gun was loaded with 30 rounds of full metal jacket bullets, which are
designed to penetrate their target. The jury saw a series of graphic
videos, including the moments after Rittenhouse fired four rounds into
Rosenbaum, who lay motionless, bleeding and groaning. Other video showed
Grosskreutz screaming, with blood gushing from his arm.
Rittenhouse
testified in his own defense last Wednesday in the trial's most
dramatic moment - a risky decision by his lawyers given his youth and
the prospect of tough prosecution cross-examination.
Rittenhouse broke
down sobbing at one point but emphasized that he fired upon the men only
after being attacked.
"I did what I had to do to stop the person who was attacking me," he said.
Rittenhouse
testified that he shot Huber after he had struck him with a skateboard
and pulled on his weapon. He said he fired on Grosskreutz after the man
pointed the pistol he was carrying at the teenager - an assertion
Grosskreutz acknowledged under questioning from the defense. Rittenhouse
testified that he shot Rosenbaum after the man chased him and grabbed
his gun.
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