Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on Friday in the fatal shooting of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and injury of Gaige Grosskreutz, 27. Court is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. CT / 11:30 a.m ET. You can watch in the player above.
Law&Crime Report: After a hearing yesterday, a judge has ordered Kyle Rittenhouse to stand trial for all 6 counts related to the Kenosha shooting. Join the Report’s host, @AngelicaSpanos, and guests as they break down the hearing. Watch LIVE 12pm ET: https://t.co/tCamSnaE2r pic.twitter.com/rq2xsPJXrY
— Law&Crime Network (@LawCrimeNetwork) December 4, 2020
The case is a conservative cause célèbre. As seen on video, Rittenhouse, then 17, opened fire in a nighttime confrontation with protesters amid the police shooting of local man Jacob Blake.
(Warning, Graphic/Violent)
A crowd chases a suspected shooter down in Kenosha. He trips and falls, then turns with the gun and fires several times. Shots can be heard fired elsewhere as well, corroborating reports of multiple shooters tonight #Kenosha #KenoshaRiots pic.twitter.com/qqsYWmngFW— Brendan Gutenschwager (@BGOnTheScene) August 26, 2020
[Warning: Video is disturbing.]
He maintains he was protecting himself. His actions, prosecutors said, were illegal. They charged with him counts including first-degree reckless homicide and first-degree intentional homicide. Rittenhouse–an Illinois resident who said he was in Wisconsin for lifeguard work and showed up to the scene with a rifle–and other armed conservatives have been criticized, accused of looking for trouble at the Blake protests. Rittenhouse was too young to buy the firearm.
“I feel I had to protect myself,” he told The Washington Post in an interview last year. “I would have died that night if I didn’t.”
Jury selection is scheduled to begin November 1.
