After three days of deliberations, Kyle Rittenhouse has been found not guilty on all charges against him. Rittenhouse has become a household name particularly in the last month when his trial took place. Those who wished to see Rittenhouse acquitted believed that the case was more than a Kenosha, Wisconsin case; they believed that it was a pivotal case that would determine how Americans defend themselves in the face of danger.
Rittenhouse originally faced six charges. The most serious was reckless homicide in the death of Joseph Rosenbaum. However, Rittenbaum was also charged with recklessly endangering safety, use of a dangerous weapon (two counts). He was also charged with first degree intentional homicide in the death of Anthony Huber. An fifth charge was attempted first degree intentional homicide regarding Gaige Grosskreutz. The sixth charge – possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under eighteen – was dismissed by Judge Bruce Shroeder earlier this week.
As the court clerk read the not guilty verdict aloud, Kyle was observed crying. He also went limp, but was able to get his emotions under control. One attorney assisted Rittenhouse into his chair. He appeared to be telling his attorney that he was “okay.”
A family spokesman stated that Kyle and his family are overjoyed. Kyle intends to continue his education; it is possible he may go into the medical field. The spokesman related that Kyle is enrolled at Arizona State University; he is taking prerequisite courses as any other freshman in college would.
All week, protestors have stood outside the Kenosha courthouse where the trial was held. The governor of Wisconsin has 500 National Guard on stand-by in the hopes of preventing any riots in the wake of the verdict.
On Wednesday evening, a freelancer who claimed to be affiliated with MSNBC was pulled over after running a red light in Kenosha. The officer who stopped the individual reported to the court on Thursday that the freelancer told him of his affiliation with MSNBC and that he had been told to follow the jury bus and get pictures of the jurors. When the judge learned of this, he barred reporters from both NBC News and MSNBC. This freelancer’s story is still under investigation; when contacted, MSNBC stated they had never heard of the reporter.
Because the verdict was an acquittal, the judge did not have to rule on the two separate motions to declare the case a mistrial. The defense made a motion during the trial itself due to the prosecutor’s numerous missteps that the defense claimed was an attempt to bias the jury. At the end of the trial, the defense filed a second motion regarding the disclosure of video evidence. The defense received one video with grainy quality while the jury was shown a high-resolution clip of a drone video.
Rittenhouse was in Kenosha in August 2020 to help guard a car dealership that had already lost $1.5 million due to the riots taking place after the shooting of Jacob Blake by a white Kenosha police officer. At the time, the media stated that Blake was unarmed. Later, evidence proved that Blake had a knife while he was resisting arrest. Kenosha is still building back since the riots took place over a year ago.
