KENOSHA (Wis.) — Kyle Rittenhouse, who was sobbing at one point, took the stand Wednesday at his murder trial. He said he was being attacked when he shot three men in Kenosha during a night of violent protests.
“I didn’t do anything wrong.” He said, “I defended myself.”
Rittenhouse (18) is being tried on murder and wounding charges in relation to a violent protest that broke out in summer 2020. It was triggered by the injury of a Kenosha officer to a Black man.
If convicted of the most serious offenses against him, he could spend life in prison.
Rittenhouse was 17 years old at the time. He went to Kenosha carrying an AK-style semiautomatic weapon as well as a medical bag. This was in an effort to protect property from rioters, who had set fires to and ransacked businesses the previous night.
Rittenhouse claimed that he shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum when Rosenbaum chased him, and put his hand on Rittenhouse’s barrel. He then shot and killed Anthony Huber. Rittenhouse testified that he opened fire on Huber after he struck him with his skateboard in the neck and grabbed his rifle.
Rittenhouse also shot Gaige Grosskreutz when he “lunges at” Rittenhouse, shooting him in the head.
Rittenhouse stated, “I didn’t intend to kill them. I wanted to stop the people who attacked me.”
The testimony centered largely on the first shooting of that night. Rosenbaum’s death set off the bloodshed that ensued.
Rittenhouse stated that he was walking towards a Car Source lot carrying a fire extinguisher to light a fire and when he heard someone shout, “Burn in Hell!” And he responded with, “Friendly, friendly…friendly!”
Rosenbaum, he claimed, was running at him from both sides and another protester holding a gun in front. He was then “captured”. He stated that that was when he started to run.
He claimed that Joshua Ziminski, another protester, had told Rosenbaum to “Get him and Kill him.”
Rittenhouse claimed that he heard a gunshot behind him and, as he turned, Rosenbaum was approaching him with his arms out front. Rittenhouse stated, “I recall his hand on my gun’s barrel.”
He recounted, “I shot him.” He said that he believed the object Rosenbaum threw in the chase, a plastic bag for hospital use, was the same one he had previously seen Rosenbaum carry.
Rittenhouse stated that he had intended to help Rosenbaum, but was shocked when someone else took care of him. Rittenhouse stated that he believed the best option was to surrender to police officers who were nearby.
Mark Richards, defense attorney, asked Rittenhouse why he wasn’t running from Rosenbaum. He replied that there was no room for him to keep running.
Rittenhouse stated that Rosenbaum had threatened to kill Rittenhouse twice earlier in the night.
Rittenhouse apologized to the court for his language and said that Rosenbaum was walking down the street wearing the chain. He screamed, “If I catch any (expletives), alone, I’m going (expletive) to kill you!”
Later that night, Rosenbaum testified that he said to them: “I’m going cut your (expletive-filled) hearts out!” Rittenhouse claimed that Rosenbaum also called them N-words. But, he stated that he did not want to repeat the phrase in court.
When Rittenhouse was first asked by his lawyer if he had come to Kenosha in search of trouble, he replied no.
Rittenhouse testified that videos of violence were captured in Kenosha’s downtown area on Aug. 24, 2020. These included a brick being thrown at an officer’s head, and cars being set on fire in a Car Source lot.
Rittenhouse stated that the Car Source owner was “happy we were there.”
Rittenhouse testified despite legal experts stating that a weak prosecution case made it less likely that he would be required to.
Five and a half days of testimony was used by the prosecution to paint Rittenhouse as the aggressor in the shootings. However, the prosecution witnesses often supported Rittenhouse’s self-defense claim. They also feared that his weapon might be taken away and used against them.
Just before Rittenhouse began to testify, the jurors were called out of the room. While the judge explained his rights to remain silent and the possible risks of testifying in court, Rittenhouse repeated that he understood.
Jurors returned to the room and filed Rittenhouse’s stand. Some jurors seemed to be taking extensive notes on their clipboards as Rittenhouse answered questions.
