Teenager Kyle Rittenhouse is facing the possibility of life in prison for killing two people and wounding a third while opposing violent protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020.
The riots broke out after a white police officer shot and paralyzed a black man named Jacob Blake. Now a year later, Rittenhouse testified Wednesday in his own murder trial, saying he acted in self-defense.
Rittenhouse told the jury he took to the streets that night carrying a semi-automatic rifle and a medic bag to protect businesses during protests and riots. Rittenhouse, who is a former police youth cadet, maintains he was protecting himself when he shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, also injuring a third man.
He testified that he never wanted to kill anyone, saying he only fired when he feared for his life. “I did what I had to do to stop the person who was attacking me,” Rittenhouse said. “Two of them passed away but I stopped the threat from attacking me.”
The 18-year-old was grilled by prosecutors, sobbing so hard at one point the judge called a recess. His emotional testimony about acting in self-defense was largely corroborated by video from that night and even by the prosecution’s own witnesses.
Rittenhouse maintained the first man cornered him and put his hand on the barrel of his rifle. He said the second man hit him with a skateboard, and the third man came at him with a gun of his own.
“If I would have let Mr. Rosenbaum take my firearm from me, he would have used it and killed me with it, and probably killed more people,” Rittenhouse testified.
The defendant said he did not go to Kenosha looking for trouble, but after he saw videos of violence in downtown Kenosha on the day before the shootings, including a rioter throwing a brick at a police officer’s head and cars burning in a dealership lot, he felt he had to do something.
His nearly all day-testimony was interrupted by outrage from the judge who removed the jury, then blasted the prosecution for asking what Kyle’s lawyers believed to be out-of-bounds questions. The judge was also upset over the prosecution’s attempt to introduce testimony after being told it would be prohibited. When the prosecutor said he had been acting in good faith, the judge replied: “I don’t believe that.”
Rittenhouse’s attorneys are demanding a mistrial with prejudice, meaning if one is granted, he cannot be retried. The prosecution rested its case Wednesday, and closing arguments are expected next week.
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