Who is Kyle Rittenhouse and when was his trial?
KYLE Rittenhouse is the teen who was charged with shooting three people, killing two of them, at the Kenosha protests over police brutality in 2020.
After a three-week trial, the Illinois teen was found not guilty of all charges after 26 hours of deliberation.
Who is Kyle Rittenhouse?
Kyle Rittenhouse is known as an Illinois teen who allegedly killed two Kenosha residents and wounded another following the shooting of Jacob Blake back in August 2020.
The then-17-year-old was seen walking the streets of Wisconsin with an AR-15 weapon in the midst of the protests that erupted.
Social media rumors suggested he had a type of affiliation with Kenosha Police and was part of a “police explorer” program.
Who did he allegedly shoot?
Rittenhouse was accused of murdering Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, as well as attempting to murder Gaige Grosskreutz, 27.
He was later charged with five felony counts including first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide, and attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
However, on November 19, 2021, a jury acquitted him on all charges.
Rosenbaum reportedly had battled bipolar disorder and was homeless, according to , which claimed he had been discharged from a hospital earlier the day after a suicide attempt. He left behind his 3-year-old daughter in Texas and a fiancée.
Huber was known as a talented skateboarder and left behind his girlfriend, Hannah Gittings, and her daughter.
When was Kyle Rittenhouse's trial?
Rittenhouse was arrested in August 2020 and released on a $2million bond after pleading not guilty, claiming self-defense as the reason behind the shootings.
The long-awaited trial was then delayed on March 10, 2021, and did not start until November 1.
Throughout the three-week trial, jurors saw testimony from multiple people, including Grosskreutz, who testified that he "thought the defendant [Rittenhouse] was an active shooter.”
Asked what was going through his mind as he got closer to Rittenhouse, he said: "That I was going to die."
On November 10, Rittenhouse then took the stand and sobbed during his testimony, forcing the proceedings to be halted.
The former police youth cadet told the court on the seventh day of his murder trial, that he wanted to safeguard property from the unrest in the wake of Blake's injury.
While testifying, Rittenhouse suggested he was attacked by Rosenbaum first. He also added that he saw videos of violence being instigated in Kenosha, and felt he was helping to protect the town.
Rittenhouse initially appeared composed as he gave answers in a matter-of-fact tone to questions from defense attorney Mark Richards.
However, he quickly broke his collected appearance when he described the moment Rosenbaum allegedly ran towards him.
Following Rittenhouse's breakdown, the judge called for a 10-minute break in the testimony. Rittenhouse's mother was also seen crying in the courtroom.
Nine days later, he was found not guilty of all charges against him and was free to go.
However, on February 1, 2023, US District Judge Lynn Adelman of Wisconsin ruled that a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Anthony Huber’s father, John Huber, can proceed against Rittenhouse, police officers and others, according to .
John Huber filed the lawsuit back in 2021 and is seeking damages by accusing officers of allowing a dangerous situation to occur that resulted in his son's death, as well as alleging that Rittenhouse conspired with law enforcement to cause harm to protestors.
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Judge Adelman denied motions filed by Rittenhouse and the government defendants seeking to dismiss the civil rights lawsuit.
Rittenhouse's attorney, Shane Martin, told AP in an interview: "While we respect the judge’s decision, we do not believe there is any evidence of a conspiracy and we are confident, just as a Kenosha jury found, Kyle’s actions that evening were not wrongful and were undertaken in self defense.”