Kyle Rittenhouse was put through two mock trials ahead of his appearance in court to determine whether or not he should testify before the jury – before he delivered his tear-filled testimony.
On Friday, the 18-year-old was acquitted of two counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide for wounding a third man, and two counts of recklessly endangering safety.
Rittenhouse killed two White men, Anthony Huber, 26, and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and injured Gaige Grosskeutz last August during BLM protests – arguing he did so in self-defense.
The verdict was delivered at the Kenosha County Courthouse on Friday following four days of deliberations by the jury – with Rittenhouse seen shaking as he fought back tears.
Attorney Mark Richards (pictured right) said that Rittenhouse (center) performed better during mock trials when he delivered a testimony
On Friday, the 18-year-old (pictured at the stand on November 10, 2021, as he testified) was acquitted of two counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide for wounding a third man, and two counts of recklessly endangering safety
Following the decision, multiple demonstrations broke out across the US over the weekend, with a riot being declared in Portland, looting breaking out in Chicago and hundreds gathering outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City, to express their anger.
And Bloomberg Law reports that he was prepped for trial by his defense attorneys by staging two different legal scenarios.
In one instance, Rittenhouse did not deliver a testimony before the mock jury, and in the second scenario other he did.
Attorney Mark Richards said that Rittenhouse ‘did substantially better’ in the mock trials when he did deliver a testimony, adding ‘that sealed it’.
The tactic did not surprise retired Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who said that the decision to put Rittenhouse on the stand was ‘essential’ in getting the acquittal.
He said: ‘I don’t think you can win a case of self-defense like this without looking the jury in the eye and persuading them that you were really scared.’
Anthony Huber, 26, (left) and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, (right) were both killed by Rittenhouse in August last year
Gaige Grosskeutz (pictured in court on November 8, 2021, as he described the moment he was shot), was also injured by Rittenhouse last year
Wisconsin law dictates that a person can use deadly force if they reasonably believe ‘such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself.’
And Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the shootings claimed self-defense on the grounds that the men he killed had threatened him and he was fearful for his life.
While delivering his testimony, Rittenhouse visibly wept as he described the terror he felt prior to the shootings.
Following the verdict, demonstrations broke out across the US, with police in Portland forced to declare a riot after protestors turned violent, clashing with officers and smashing windows.
Masses of people gathered coast-to-coast Friday night to decry Rittenhouse’s acquittal in protests that reflected the divisiveness and anger stoked by the high-profile case.
Hours after the verdict, police in Portland were forced to declare a riot after about 200 protestors turned destructive, damaging the front gate of the Multnomah County Justice Center and clashing with officers.
A small trash fire was started near the Justice Center by protestors on Friday night who were declared rioters by police after police said they became destructive and were told to clear the area
A protestor blocks a Portland Police vehicle as officers clashed with protestors who took to the streets to decry Kyle Rittenhouse’s acquittal on Friday
‘Due to violent, destructive behavior by a significant part of the crowd, the gathering in downtown Portland is a RIOT. All participants are instructed to proceed away to the WEST,’ the Portland Police Bureau wrote on Twitter.
According to police, rioters threw objects at officers, smashed the rear window of a police car as well as windows from the city print shop and spray-painted the justice center building with graffiti that read ‘all cops are Kyles, no justice, no peace’, FOX 12 reported.
Protestors were warned they would be arrested and were subject to force if they remained in the area.
In total, one person was arrested for a warrant and five citations and 17 warnings were issued, FOX 12 reported.
In Chicago looters broke into a Neiman Marcus and a Game Stop on the Southside as protest went on in the downtown area.
FOX 32 reported that 15 males stormed into a Mag Mile Neiman Marcus store, stealing merchandise and escaping in three separate vehicles.
Demonstrators holds signs as they rallied and marched around Chicago’s Loop neighborhood as lootings took place in the city’s Downtown and South Side neighborhoods on Friday night
Portland Police are equipped in riot gear as they square off with protestors who police said smashed windows and threw objects at police on Friday
Overhead footage shows a South Side GameStop store with broken glass and merchandise on the ground, but police did not confirm if it was a looting, FOX 32 reported.
In New York City, hundreds gathered outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to express their fury in the verdict as similar events unfolded across the nation.
Scores of people were seen marching through New York about 7 p.m. carrying signs that branded Rittenhouse as a ‘racist killer’ and the judicial system as biased.
‘The message is that when you stand up for black liberation, when you stand up for black lives, no matter who you are you automatically become a target of the system,’ Na-Lakan Masego, a protester, told CBS New York.
Another speaker at the rally said the jury’s verdict was a blow to the entire nation.
‘By allowing Kyle Rittenhouse to walk away, this entire country – this government – has slapped us all in the face for the millionth time,’ he told the crowd. ‘We cannot allow them to continue treating us like we do not exist because they hurt us.’
Pictured: Demonstrators protest against the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on November 19
Pictured: Justin Blake, the uncle of Jacob Blake, is seen outside Kenosha County Courthouse on November 19, 2021, in the hours before the the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse was announced
Following the Rittenhouse verdict, and with the looming end of another controversial trial of three white men who chased down and shot a black jogger called Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, tensions are high right now.
One protestor described the situation in America following the verdict as ‘a tinderbox right now and it feels like all it will take is one more match for the whole thing to go up.’
Rittenhouse has become a poster boy for the American Right with Donald Trump congratulating him on his acquittal. ‘It’s called being found NOT GUILTY. And by the way, if that’s not self defense, nothing is!,’ the former US President said in a statement posted on Twitter by his office.
But President Joe Biden, who described the teenager as a ‘white supremacist’ during last year’s US election race, said: ‘While the verdict in Kenosha will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included, we must acknowledge that the jury has spoken.’
Rittenhouse opened fire with an assault-style AR-15 rifle during protests about the shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake, by a white police officer, last August.
His legal team argued he had been in fear for his life because an unarmed man swung at him with a skateboard and another approached him with a pistol. Prosecutors portrayed Rittenhouse, just 17 at the time, as a ‘wannabe soldier’ who ‘decided to impart his own style of vigilante justice’.
A TIMELINE OF THE UNREST IN KENOSHA IN 2020 SPARKED BY POLICE SHOOTING OF JACOB BLAKE
Witnesses reported that at least three police officers had their guns drawn as Jacob Blake (seen above in the white t-shirt) was walking away from them in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Sunday, August 23, 2020
The images above show the moments leading up to the shooting. Blake (seen in the white shirt) walks away from a police officer who has his gun drawn and is ordering him to stop
The image above shows the moment a Kenosha, Wisconsin, police officer fired at least seven shots into the back of Jacob Blake as he was getting into an SUV in a residential neighborhood
Blake is seen far left with his three children. Witnesses said all three of his kids were in the back seat of the SUV when their father was shot
Sunday, August 23, 2020: Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man, is shot seven times in the back from point-blank range by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The shooting took place as Blake was getting into an SUV with his three young children – ages 8, 5, and 3 – in the back seat.
Video of the incident filmed from across the street shows a white police officer, Rusten Sheskey, walking behind Blake as he walks around to the driver’s side of the SUV.
As Blake opens the front door and reaches inside the vehicle, Sheskey opens fire and shoots seven times.
Blake was airlifted to a hospital in Milwaukee. He survived the shooting, though he is now paralyzed from the waist down.
Kenosha police claimed Blake had a knife and fought with officers, putting one of them in a headlock and shrugging off two attempts to stun him.
As news of the shooting spreads, hundreds of protesters gather in the city.
Marchers headed to the Kenosha County Public Safety Building, which authorities had mostly blocked off.
Officers deployed tear gas in an effort to disperse the protesters.
Protesters marched along lines of cars honking on their way to the station and eventually made their way to the rear parking lot.
Some protesters set fires and threw bricks and petrol bombs at police, leading authorities to close public buildings.
Aftermath of the riots are laid bare at one autoshop, showing the business charred and burned with dozens of cars also burned out, out front
The interior of a burned out restaurant is seen after a night of unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on August 24, 2020
Kenosha residents woke to broken and charred storefronts, with dozens of cars and trucks in the street burnt out, such as this one above on August 24, 2020
Monday, August 24, 2020: On Monday afternoon, Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian faced dozens of angry, jeering protesters, some of whom tried to force their way into the city’s public-safety building adjacent to the courthouse when the mayor retreated from the crowd.
The door was broken from its hinges, but police in riot gear drove the demonstrators back with pepper spray.
Before he was shouted down, Antaramian had vowed that ‘justice is done for everyone’ and that all of those involved were entitled to ‘due process.’
Despite the curfew, scores of protesters marched through the streets Monday night and into Tuesday morning.
One large group skirmished in front of the courthouse with sheriff’s deputies seen firing tear gas and pepper balls into the crowd.
Demonstrators hurled water bottles and firecrackers at the police.
Several commercial and government buildings were set ablaze, along with vehicles in at least two car dealership lots, but the disturbances seemed to be winding down by early morning.
Police used tear gas, rubber bullets and smoke bombs to disperse the crowd.
Tuesday, August 25, 2020: Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers declared a state of emergency Tuesday, and President Donald Trump announced federal law enforcement officers and National Guard troops were being sent to the state to quell the unrest.
Two people were killed and one was injured after shots were fired in Kenosha during the third night of unrest.
The shooting was reported at about 11:45pm in an area where protests have taken place, Kenosha Police Lieutenant Joseph Nosalik said.
On Friday, November 19, 2021, Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, was acquitted of two counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide for wounding a third man, and two counts of recklessly endangering safety
Much of Rittenhouse’s Facebook is devoted to praising law enforcement, with references to Blue Lives Matter – the movement that supports police. He also previously participated in a youth public safety cadet program (pictured), according to social media
The injured person was in serious condition at a local hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.
The gunman, Kyle Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, who was arrested at his home in Antioch, Illinois, some 20 miles from Kenosha, was seen roaming the streets at around 10pm alongside others who identified as part of a ‘militia.’
Rittenhouse had been charged with fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and 26-year-old Anthony Huber and wounding a third – Gaige Grosskreutz, 26.
Rittenhouse shot one of his victims five times including in the head, the criminal complaint reveals – but his attorney claimed it was he who was ‘attacked’ and insisted he was acting in self-defense.
Rittenhouse’s attorney Lin Wood said the then 17-year-old vigilante was ‘attacked’ with ‘lethal force’ and ‘had the right to defend himself’ when he shot dead the two Black Lives Matter protesters and injured a third man, Grosskreutz.
After shooting Rosenbaum, Rittenhouse then ran down the street and was chased by several people shouting that he just shot someone, before he tripped and fell, according to the complaint and video footage.
The two men who were killed were Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha, (left) and Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake, (right) about 15 miles west of the city. Huber’s devastated girlfriend broke her silence over his ‘murder’, saying her ‘heroic’ boyfriend died trying to save the lives of her and other protesters
Gaige Grosskreutz (left) – Rittenhouse’s third and only surviving victim is pictured on August 24, 2020, in hospital recovering after the shooting. On right is his left arm where he was shot
Grosskreutz pictured clutching his bloodied arm after Rittenhouse shot him at close range
Grosskreutz getting medical attention after the shooting. Grosskreutz, aged 26, was legally permitted to be carrying his handgun. Rittenhouse meanwhile is 17 and so was illegally carrying the AR-15 rifle he used to shoot Grosskreutz and the two other victims
Huber, of Silver Lake, Wisconsin, was shot in the chest after apparently trying to wrestle the gun away from Rittenhouse, the complaint said.
According to court records, Huber had a skateboard in his right hand and used it to ‘make contact’ with Rittenhouse’s left shoulder as they struggled for control of the gun.
Court records said Grosskreutz appeared to be holding a gun when he approached Rittenhouse after he shot at Huber.
Grosskreutz is an activist who volunteered as a medic during the Kenosha demonstrations, according to Milwaukee activist Bethany Crevensten.
Wednesday, August 26, 2020: Making their strongest statement yet in the fight against racial injustice, players from six NBA teams decided not to play postseason games on Wednesday in a boycott that quickly reverberated across other professional leagues.
Also called off: Some games in Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer and the three WNBA contests, as players across four leagues decided the best way to use their platform and demand change was to literally step off the playing surface.
Demanding societal change and ending racial injustice has been a major part of the NBA’s restart at Walt Disney World.
Sterling Brown and George Hill of the Milwaukee Bucks reads a statement to the media on Wednesday as they boycott a game at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, Florida, on August 26, 2020
The court and benches are empty of players and coaches at the scheduled start of an NBA basketball first round playoff game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Orlando Magic on August 26, 2020
The phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ is painted on the arena courts, players are wearing messages urging change on their jerseys and coaches are donning pins demanding racial justice as well.
Many players wrestled for weeks about whether it was even right to play, fearing that a return to games would take attention off the deaths of, among others, Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in recent months.
Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman, was fatally shot when police officers burst into her Louisville, Kentucky apartment using a no-knock warrant during a narcotics investigation on March 13.
The warrant was in connection with a suspect who did not live there and no drugs were found.
Then on May 25, Floyd died after a white Minneapolis police officer pressed a knee into the black man’s neck for nearly eight minutes – all captured on a cell phone video.
Meanwhile, Kenosha saw peaceful and solemn protests on Wednesday night for the first time since the weekend police shooting of Blake.
Source: Daily Mail