Kyle Rittenhouse could be seen smiling in the backseat of an SUV as he was driven away from the Kenosha courthouse Friday afternoon after being cleared of all charges.
Rittenhouse, 18 years old, broke down and hugged him as the jury of his double murder trial exonerated him. It took four days and many weeks to decide and hear testimony. It was 12:15 p.m. on Friday in Kenosha.
Rittenhouse, if convicted for the most serious crime of using an AR-style semiautomatic rifle to murder two men – Anthony Huber & Joseph Rosenbaum – and wound another man, Gaige Großkreutz could face life imprisonment
Mark Richards, the defense lawyer for Rittenhouse, said outside the court that Rittenhouse felt a “huge relief” at the verdict.
Richards explained that Richards is “on his way home and wants to move on with his day.” He has to continue living his life as full and happy as possible.
Richards said that Rittenhouse testified in two mock trials. It was evident from the jury’s reaction that Rittenhouse had to take the stand.
Kyle Rittenhouse was immediately taken from the courtroom to an SUV waiting for him after the verdict was announced.
As Rittenhouse drove away from Kenosha’s courthouse, he smiled in his SUV backseat.
Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all five counts Friday afternoon by a jury in the Kenosha County Circuit Court
Fears that violence could resurrect in Kenosha (Wisconsin) were heightened by the fact that Friday’s verdict was delivered at 12:15 p.m.
Rittenhouse (18) began to shake when the verdict was read. He tried to hold back his tears as he tried not too much. He couldn’t hold the tears any longer, and he fell into his chair. Then he hugged defense lawyer Corey Chirafisi.
Rittenhouse (18) collapsed and hugged his defense lawyer Corey Chirafisi after he was acquitted of the double murder charges. This happened after four days and weeks of trial and deliberation.
He stated that the jury proceedings were more lengthy than any other case in which he was involved.
Richards claimed that the Rittenhouses were likely to leave because of the many death threats they’ve received.
“Kyle has been in therapy for PTSD. He said that he doesn’t go to sleep at night.
“Eventually some anonymity would return to him but I doubt he’ll continue to live here.”
Richards stated, ‘I believe it’s too risky.’ Rittenhouse had security monitoring him round the clock since this incident.
Rittenhouse said that Rittenhouse’s team has received an’scary amount’ of death threats.
Kyle Rittenhouse was arrested August 26, 2020 in his hometown of Antioch, Illinois and charged with first degree intentional homicide over the shooting death of two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin the previous day
Rittenhouse spoke to The Daily Caller, a right-wing newspaper, shortly before he went to Kenosha in Wisconsin with an AR-15 to kill two protestors.
The teen, who was carrying a gun across his body with him, told the reporter that he was an EMT. He explained that he was on patrol in Kenosha providing medical care to all those in need. Also helping to protect businesses from looters or rioters.
“People are being injured.” Rittenhouse spoke of his militia, saying that their job was to safeguard the company.
‘If there’s somebody hurt, I’m running into harm’s way,’ added Rittenhouse, who was seen earlier guarding a local car shop with a group of armed militia members.
“That is why I have my gun, so I can defend myself. My medkit is also with me.
Also, he said he’d been “de-escalating” a potentially violent situation in the previous night. He and his vigilante crew then ordered the protesters to flee a church they had attacked.
Rittenhouse was carrying a gun across his body shortly before the attack. Rittenhouse stated that he is a certified EMT. Rittenhouse also explained that he was on patrol in Kenosha, providing medical care to injured persons and protecting business from looters.
Rittenhouse was acquitted during the shootings. His lawyer indicated that he now plans to become a nurse.
Richards also attacked Thomas Binger as a prosecutor. “Justice can only be done once the truth has been discovered. The truth is what the prosecution should seek. He said that it was not about winning.
He praised Judge Schroeder and said he presided over an ‘fair trial’.
‘He gives you a fair trial as a defendant — but you don’t want him to sentence your client,’ he said, commenting on his reputation for handing out stiff sentences.
“If we lost, we don’t know what would have happened. He would have been sentenced to life imprisonment. We asked for a fair hearing and were granted one.
He said that Rittenhouse was allowed to choose from a tumbler jurors to become alternates.
Binger made it very clear that he was not going to comment on the verdict of the case.
However, his boss Kenosha county District Attorney Mike Graveley released a statement stating that he respected the verdict of the jury based upon three and a quarter days of carefully considered deliberations.
“Certainly, the issue of self-defense privileges remain extremely contentious at this time.”
Graveley made a plea to the public for peace. “We request that everyone accepts the verdicts peacefully, and not resorting to violence.”
Wendy Rittenhouse, Rittenhouse’s mom was present in the public gallery. She also burst into tears when the verdicts were read
Evidently disappointed, Thomas Binger, the prosecutor in the case, slumped in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. He then sighed as the verdict was read.
As Judicial Assistant Tami Mielcarek reads the verdicts in Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial, Judge Bruce Schroeder watches.
According to The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Rittenhouse shootings occurred during 2020 summertime disturbances. They took place two days after Jacob was killed. Officers responded to a “family trouble” around 5:15 pm on August 23.
Kenosha now watches to see if violence descends again. Protestors from both sides milled on the courtroom steps — one white man saying how proud he was of Rittenhouse and the verdict, standing feet from a black woman railing about white justice.
This is an explosive conclusion to a trial which has been marred with drama and controversy that have threatened to shut down proceedings several times.
President Joe Biden said Friday that he stands by the jury that found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty – as Republicans renewed demands that he apologize for calling the Kenosha shooter a white supremacist in the wake of the verdict.
I stand beside the jury, as long as it has ended. Biden said Friday that the jury system works, and that you must follow it. He was returning from Walter Reed Medical Center where he received a physical.
He stated that he heard the verdict ‘just a moment’ ago.
Republican lawmakers and other officials are demanding that Biden apologize to Rittenhouse for linking him to white supremacism following the Wisconsin jury’s not-guilty verdict. ‘
Joe Biden must publicly apologize for Kyle Rittenhouse’, said Senator Tom Cotton (R.Ark.).In a statement made immediately following the verdict.
Rittenhouse’s former classmates claim that Rittenhouse was an angry student at Lakes Community High School before his fame.
Rittenhouse’s former classmates claimed that Rittenhouse was already a fiery student at Lakes Community High School when he first gained fame.
‘When he got mad or offended he would always say he could “fuck me up,” but everyone would just laugh because he was like a 5-foot-4 chubby freshman boy who we thought wasn’t capable of harm,’ a student told Vice during an August, 2020, interview.
Others told the outlet Rittenhouse liked guns and police.
Rittenhouse was the third child of Wendy and Mike Rittenhouse. She was raised in an unstable home by her parents after their split.
Wendy Rittenhouse was single mother of three children and struggled to provide for her family. The New Yorker reports that the family had been evicted many times.
In 2018, she filed for bankruptcy and was admitted to hospital with a stomach bleed. Her son then found work as a fry chef and janitor in order to help the family financially.
Rittenhouse has previously been a part of a youth public security cadet programme
When he was in Grade 9, the magazine reported, the aspiring first responder joined an ‘explorers program’ at the Grayslake Police Department in Illinois, which the local police chief said was meant to ‘teach self-discipline, responsibility and other appropriate “life lessons” to troubled teens.
He also enrolled in a cadet program at the Antioch Fire Department, where Chief Jon Cokefair told The New Yorker: ‘Most of the kids that are doing this, they don’t play football, they’re not cheerleaders. This is their focus.’
Rittenhouse appeared to worship the police, as per all indications.
The Facebook page of Rittenhouse before it was deleted reflected his admiration for law enforcement and was heavily praised on social media.
Rittenhouse spent a lot of Rittenhouses’s Facebook praising law enforcers, and he also made references to Blue Lives Matter, a movement which supports police officers.
Wendy Rittenhouse took the photograph and posted it online. He is seen wearing a blue uniform for law enforcement, as well as the brimmed cap that state troopers use.
His mom claims that her son was calling her stupid and dumb classmates in January 2017, and she threatened to kill him when she applied for protection by the police.
Rittenhouse was identified by court papers as a Lindenhurst YMCA lifeguard.
Rittenhouse, a front-row seat at a Trump rally, was in Des Moines, Iowa, January 2020.