The nearly all-white jury deliberated homicide charges against the Illinois teen in the shooting deaths of two men at a 2020 protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
NBC
A Wisconsin jury on Friday found Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges in the fatal shooting of two men during protests in Kenosha nearly 15 months ago.
Rittenhouse, 18, from nearby Antioch, Illinois, was charged with reckless homicide in the slaying of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and intentional homicide in the death of Anthony Huber, 26, on Aug. 25, 2020, during protests over the shooting days earlier of a Black man, Jacob Blake, by a white Kenosha police officer. Blake was paralyzed from the waist down. The shooting led to days of often violent protests in Kenosha and across the country.
The panel also cleared Rittenhouse of attempted intentional homicide for severely wounding Gaige Grosskreutz, a paramedic from suburban Milwaukee who was there that night volunteering his medical services.
Rittenhouse was acquitted on two counts of recklessly endangering safety. He attempted to shoot an unknown person, known in court as “jump kick man,” who tried kicking the defendant in the face and prosecutors said Rittenhouse could have wounded another man when he opened fire on Rosenbaum.
Rittenhouse testified in his own defense last week and said all the shootings were acts of self-defense.
The trial drew national attention, focusing on issues of gun rights and race.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers pleaded for calm but deployed 500 National Guard in anticipation of post-verdict protests.
