Kyle Rittenhouse trial comes to dramatic end as prosecutor wields gun
Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial came to a dramatic end on Tuesday, including a bizarre moment a lead prosecutor picked up a rifle.
One of the most keenly-followed murder trials in recent American history drew towards a close on Tuesday as the prosecution and defence made their closing remarks in the Kyle Rittenhouse case.
Rittenhouse, 18, of Antioch, Illinois, is on trial for killing Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, after an initial encounter, then moments later fatally shooting Anthony Huber, 26, and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, in the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, on August 25, 2020.
The prosecution argued Rittenhouse “provoked everything” during last year’s unrest over the police shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake, by bringing a “gun to a fistfight”.
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“(Rosenbaum’s) an unarmed man. This is a bar fight. This is a fistfight. This is a fight that maybe many of you have been involved in. Two people were hand to hand, throwing punches, were pushing or shoving or whatever,” lead prosecutor Thomas Binger told the jurors.
“But what you don’t do is you don’t bring a gun to a fistfight. What the defendant wants you to believe is that because he’s the one who brought the gun, he gets to kill.”
At one point, Binger demonstrated how Rittenhouse instigated the bloodshed by picking up the actual rifle in the courtroom. “That is what provokes this entire incident,” he said.
But Rittenhouse’s supporters seized on the image of Binger holding the gun with his finger on the trigger to attack the prosecutor over gun safety.
“Yea the prosecutor, who seems to not know much about law or is lying to the jury on purpose, has really shitty trigger discipline,” Donald Trump Jr tweeted.
And he never confirmed the gun was clear before doing this. He’s Alec Baldwin with a law degree. https://t.co/qZLyprAmli
— Sean Davis (@seanmdav) November 15, 2021
Dear #Kenosha: ADA Thomas Binger knowingly committed an unsafe act with a firearm and could have #AlecBaldwin’ed the jury in the #KyleRittenhouseTrial. Not cool. pic.twitter.com/Odb8gRexxz
— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) November 15, 2021
The jury was also shown a drone video that Binger said showed Rittenhouse pointing an AR-style rifle at protesters during the riots.
“If you created the danger, you forfeit the right to self-defence by bringing that gun, aiming at people, threatening people’s lives,” Binger told the jurors. “The defendant provoked everything.”
Binger argued that Rittenhouse “anticipated violence” when he travelled across state borders to the city.
“Was he genuinely interested in helping people he ran around with an AR-15 all night and lied about being an EMT (emergency medical technician)? Does that suggest to you that he genuinely is there to help?” Binger said.
Lawyer ‘glad’ Rittenhouse shot Rosenbaum
But Rittenhouse’s defence team fiercely rejected the teen was provoking others, noting that Binger didn’t mention the theory in his opening statements.
“Did you hear one word out of Mr. Binger’s mouth about provocation? You didn’t. But when his case explodes in his face, he goes to provocation,” lead defence lawyer Mark Richards said.
Richards also blasted the prosecution’s characterisation of Rittenhouse as an “active shooter,” claiming it was a “buzzword that the state wants to latch on to because it excuses the actions of that mob” that chased the teen after he opened fire.
“Everyone has heard of theatre killings, the school shootings and things like that. Ask yourself the definition of an active shooter. It’s somebody with a plan to inflict multiple casualties usually out of anger or a discord group,” he said.
“I’m glad he shot him.†— Kyle Rittenhouse defense attorney Mark Richards on the fatal shooting of unarmed Joseph Rosenbaum. pic.twitter.com/nDpvUnHkOD
— The Recount (@therecount) November 15, 2021
Richards said that the teen had been asked to help defend local used car businesses in the city when Rosenbaum began chasing him after a brief encounter.
“When my client shot Joseph Rosenbaum, he feared for his life,” he said. “He feared because of the prior threats to prior statements and the violent acts witnessed by my client.”
“Kyle shot Joseph Rosenbaum to stop a threat to his person,” Richards added. “And I’m glad he shot him, because if Joseph Rosenbaum had got that gun, I don’t for a minute believe he wouldn’t have used it against somebody else. He was irrational and crazy.”
Rittenhouse, who was seen yawning in court, faces charges that include first-degree intentional homicide, which carries a mandatory life sentence.
Dangerous weapon charged dropped
Ahead of jury instructions, Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed a charge of possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.
He agreed with the defence’s argument that the shorter barrel length of Rittenhouse’s AR-15-type gun meant that he didn’t violate the law.
In presenting the jury instructions for their deliberations, the judge explained that evidence must show “beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant did not act lawfully in self-defence.”
“The defendant may intentionally use force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm only if you reasonably believed that the force used is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to his own person,” Schroeder said.
But the judge said that self-defence explanation doesn’t apply to the reckless endangerment charge regarding a fourth man, videographer Richie McGinniss, who testified that he was in the line of fire when Rittenhouse opened fire on Rosenbaum.
“Mr. McGinnis was not attacking him,” the judge said.
The case that has divided America
Rittenhouse was 17 when he travelled to Kenosha with a semiautomatic rifle and a medical kit and claimed that he was trying to protect businesses from the riots.
The jury heard how Rittenhouse shot and killed Rosenbaum in an initial confrontation in the streets and moments later fatally shot Huber and wounded Grosskreutz.
Rittenhouse, who has pleaded not guilty, faces charges ranging from intentional homicide — which carries a life sentence — to an underage weapons charge that could send him to jail for a few months if convicted.
Prosecutors have sought to portray him as the aggressor of the shootings, describing to the jury how out of all the people in Kenosha that night, he was the only one to shoot people.
Meanwhile, his lawyers argued that he acted in self-defence and only pulled the trigger on those who threatened him during the protests.
Rittenhouse lost his composure on the stand as he testified in his own defence for more than six hours, sobbing at one point as he described hearing a gunshot from behind him as he was being chased through the street by Rosenbaum.
“I did what I had to do to stop the person who was attacking me by killing them,” the teen said.
Schroeder on Monday allowed several lesser charges to be introduced on two counts.
For these lesser offences to be considered, the jury must acquit Rittenhouse of the most serious offence as well as determine that he didn’t act “lawfully in self-defence”.
If the jury finds Rittenhouse not guilty of the first-degree intentional homicide charge in Huber’s death, they can consider the charge in the second degree as well as first-degree reckless homicide. And should the jury acquit Rittenhouse of the most serious charge for shooting Grosskreutz, they may decide whether he’s guilty of attempted second-degree intentional homicide and attempted first-degree recklessly endangering safety.
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On Wednesday, will be drawn to determine which 12 of the 18 jurors will try to reach a consensus on whether he is innocent or guilty of the charges. The jury will then begin deliberating.
With a possible verdict looming, Governor Tony Evers said 500 National Guard members have been activated in preparation.
This article was originally published by the New York Post and reproduced with permission
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