Kyle Rittenhouse pleads not guilty to killing 2 at protest after claiming HE would have died if he hadn’t fired
KYLE Rittenhouse has pleaded not guilty to killing two people at a Wisconsin protest after claiming he would have died if he hadn't fired.
entered his plea in a brief hearing conducted by teleconference on Tuesday.
Prosecutors say , who is white, left his home in Antioch, , and traveled to .
Rittenhouse allegedly learned of a call to protect businesses in the wake of the August 23 shooting by police of Jacob Blake.
Blake, a black man, was shot seven times in the back and left paralyzed.
Rittenhouse opened fire with an assault-style rifle during protests two nights later, and is accused of killing .
Rittenhouse has argued he fired in self-defense.
In a jail house interview in November, Rittenhouse told : “No, I don't regret [carrying a gun that night]. I feel I had to protect myself. I would have died that night if I didn’t.”
"I was going into a place where people had guns. And God forbid, somebody brought a gun to me and decided to shoot me, like I wanted to be protected, which I ended up having to protect myself. "
His attorney, John M Pierce who has represented associates, previously said the teen "exercised his God-given, Constitutional, common law, and statutory law right to self-defense."
Conservatives rallied around Rittenhouse, describing him as a patriot who took up arms to protect people and property, and raised enough money to make his $2million cash bail.
Others see him as a domestic terrorist whose presence with a rifle incited protesters. Rittenhouse was 17 at the time of the shootings.
is being held at a juvenile facility in Vernon Hills, , for allegedly killing two people and injuring one.
Rittenhouse lives in Antioch, Illinois, but was charged in , and was labeled as a "fugitive of justice," according to local public records.
He faces charges of first-degree intentional .
Police made the arrest after the suspect allegedly fled Wisconsin for his home state following the shooting.
Trump has also waded into the case after he was asked about it at a .
He previously said: "We're looking at all of it and that was an interesting situation.
"You saw the same tape as I saw and he was trying to get away from them, I guess, it looks like he fell and then they very violently attacked him.
"And it was something that we are looking at right now and it's under investigation.
"But I guess he was in very big trouble, he would've been, he probably would've been killed, but it's under investigation."
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Trump 2020 campaign spokesperson, Tim Murtaugh, also released a statement, saying: “President Trump has repeatedly and consistently condemned all forms of violence and believes we must protect all Americans from chaos and lawlessness.
"This individual had nothing to do with our campaign and we fully support our fantastic law enforcement for their swift action in this case.”
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If convicted of intentional homicide, Rittenhouse faces life in prison.
