(Note language in paragraph 11.)
KENOSHA, Wis. (Reuters) – Jurors saw a series of graphic videos on Wednesday showing the moments after Kyle Rittenhouse shot three protesters in Wisconsin last year, including one man who lay motionless and bleeding and another screaming for medical aid.
Rittenhouse, 18, who has been charged with killing two men and wounding a third with a semi-automatic rifle during unrest in Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020, watched the videos calmly, intermittently turning his eyes away from the screen.
He has pleaded not guilty and says he acted in self-defense.
One juror nudged his reading glasses on his forehead and rubbed his chin anxiously as he viewed the graphic scenes, according to a pool report from the courtroom, where media access has been limited for the high-profile trial.
As Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger showed video of Joseph Rosenbaum, the first person shot, motionless with glass and blood on the ground next to him, some jurors shifted uncomfortably in their chairs.
“Put pressure on it!” one person can be heard yelling as a crowd gathered and attempted to provide aid to Rosenbaum, who had thrown a plastic bag with toiletries at Rittenhouse and chased him. “Where, where’s the hole?” another person screams, as someone applies pressure to Rosenbaum’s head.
Martin Howard, a Kenosha police detective, was called by Binger to explain the video evidence. Howard said there was no evidence that Rosenbaum was armed when he was shot.
“I can only see a plastic bag he is carrying,” Howard said.
Rittenhouse, who was wearing a dark blue suit and yellow and royal blue tie, sat still and exhibited no outward emotions as he watched the clips, which showed him later running from the scene of the Rosenbaum shooting, as others sought to provide medical aid.
As Rittenhouse is running down the street, some in the crowd begin to scream things like “Get him,” and he then has a series of violent encounters. Rittenhouse fatally shoots Anthony Huber, a 26-year-old who swung a skateboard at him, and wounds Gaige Grosskreutz, now 27, with a bullet to his arm. Grosskreutz was holding a handgun when he was shot.
“I need a fucking medic!” Grosskreutz screams in one video, with blood gushing from his arm.
Rittenhouse’s attorneys will have a chance to question Howard and will likely seek to highlight the actions of the men Rittenhouse shot, including Rosenbaum’s pursuit of the teen, Huber’s use of his skateboard, and Grosskreutz being armed.
On Tuesday, defense attorney Mark Richards contended that Rosenbaum was “the individual who lit the fuse that night.”
Some legal experts https://www.reuters.com/world/us/prosecutors-face-tough-test-trial-us-teenage-protest-shooter-rittenhouse-2021-10-28 have said the prosecution faces a tough task in convincing a jury that Rittenhouse did not fear for his life. Under Wisconsin law, people can use deadly force if they “reasonably” believe it necessary to prevent someone from killing or causing great bodily harm to them.
Rittenhouse has emerged as a hero to some conservatives who believe in unfettered gun rights and see the shootings as justified during the chaos in Kenosha, while many on the left see him as an example of a gun culture run amok.
The unrest in Kenosha erupted after a white policeman shot and seriously wounded Jacob Blake, a Black man, two nights before the shootings. That incident took place against the backdrop of nationwide protests over racism and police brutality following the May 2020 murder of George Floyd, another Black man, by a policeman in Minneapolis.
(Reporting by Nathan Layne; Editing by Peter Cooney)
