Kyle Rittenhouse took the stand in his homicide trial on Wednesday after fatally shooting two people and injuring another during protests in Kenosha, Wis., last summer, a risky move by the defense that featured at-times emotional testimony from the now-18-year-old.
Rittenhouse, who said he fired his AR-15 in self-defense, faces six criminal charges in connection with the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and the injury of Gaige Grosskreutz, 26: first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, two counts of reckless endangerment and carrying a firearm illegally as a minor.
He was roaming the streets of Kenosha on Aug. 25 as riots were taking place in the aftermath of the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, two nights before.
Rittenhouse sought to make the argument from the stand that he opened fire on Rosenbaum, Huber and Grosskreutz to protect himself from potential violence.
Asked by Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger during cross-examination what the “risk to you of death or great bodily harm” was at the moment he shot Rosenbaum, the first man he killed that night, Rittenhouse said he thought Rosenbaum was trying to take his firearm to kill him and others.
“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 if I would have let him get my gun,” he said.
“If he would have taken my gun, he would have used it against me,” Rittenhouse later added.
Earlier in the day’s testimony, Rittenhouse told the jury, “I didn’t intend to kill them. I intended to stop the people who were attacking me.”
Pressed on if he was trying to stop the people attacking him by killing them, Rittenhouse said, “Two of them passed away, but I stopped the threat from attacking me.”
He later agreed with the prosecutor that he intentionally used deadly force against the three men he shot that night but again brought the conversation back to self-defense.
“I didn’t know if it was going to kill them, but I used deadly force to stop the threat that was attacking me,” Rittenhouse said.
The teenager testified that he initially decided to travel to Kenosha to help protect businesses and clean graffiti throughout the city. He said he ended up joining a ground of other armed individuals who walked the streets that night offering medical attention to other civilians and protecting local establishments from rioters.
He said he brought his AR-15 with him “to protect myself” in the event that someone attacked him.
Rittenhouse told his defense attorney earlier in the day that he was not “looking for trouble” when he traveled to Kenosha, adding, “I didn’t do anything wrong. I defended myself.”
Perhaps the most noteworthy moment of Rittenhouse’s time on the stand Wednesday, however, was when he broke down in tears during questioning from defense attorney Mark Richards about the events that led to him shooting Rosenbaum.
He described being chased by Rosenbaum on his right side as he was moving to a car parking lot when he saw another protester, Joshua Ziminski, in front of him.
“There were three people right there,” Rittenhouse said, sobbing loudly.
Judge Bruce Schroeder called for a brief recess, after which Rittenhouse returned to the stand composed.
Tense spats between Schroeder and the prosecution when the jury was outside the courtroom also made headlines on Wednesday, leading the defense to request a mistrial with prejudice.
Schroeder admonished Binger twice, the first time after he started questioning Rittenhouse about why he chose to remain silent about the incident until the trial, which the judge called a constitutional violation.
“The problem is this is a grave constitutional violation for you to talk about the defendant’s silence,” Schroder said. “You’re right on the borderline, and you may be over it. But it better stop.”
The two clashed again later in Binger’s cross-examination when the prosecutor appeared to question Rittenhouse before the jury about a matter that Schroeder previously said would not be allowed in the courtroom.
After the issue was raised by Richards, who threatened to request a mistrial, Binger apologized for the line of questioning, noting that he must have misunderstood the judge’s ruling.
Schroeder, however, who reportedly has the reputation of overseeing a strict courtroom, scolded the prosecutor.
“Don’t get brazen with me,” the judge said. “You knew very well that attorneys can’t go into these types of areas when the judge has already ruled without asking outside the presence of the jury to do so. So don’t give me that.”
The judge’s warning did not appease the defense, which after a lunch break asked Schroeder to declare a mistrial.
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi accused Binger of “what amounts to prosecutorial overreach” for his earlier lines of questioning that Schroeder rejected.
The judge said he would take the motion “under advisement” before resuming the proceedings.
“There better not be another incident,” he added.
The tense day of questioning adjourned just before 6 p.m. local time, with Schroeder predicting that the trial could wrap up as early as Monday or Tuesday.