Kyle Rittenhouse Breaks Down Crying on Stand Discussing Night He Killed 2 Men
Kyle Rittenhouse broke down crying on the stand Wednesday as he tried to talk about the moments leading up to when he shot and killed a man in a Wisconsin parking lot last summer.
The court adjourned for a short period to allow the teen to regain his composure.
It was long questioned if Kyle Rittenhouse, the now 18-year-old accused of intentionally killing two people during protests against police brutality in the summer of 2020, would take the stand. On Wednesday morning, following the quick questioning of two other witnesses, Mark Richards, Rittenhouse's lead attorney, called him to the stand.
Wearing a dark blue suit, the 18-year-old answered a series of routine questions from the judge about how his testimony wasn’t coerced. He started his testimony by saying he didn’t go to Kenosha, Wisconsin “looking for trouble.” (Rittenhouse had travelled roughly 20 miles from nearby Illinois) He said that he decided to go to the town because he saw social media videos of violent moments of the protests.
Rittenhouse told the jury that prior to the fateful moment where he shot and killed Rosenbaum, the man threatened to kill him twice.
“He screamed ‘if I catch any of you fuckers alone, I’m going to fucking kill you,’” said Rittenhouse. “The second time he said ‘I’m going to cut your fucking hearts out and kill you N-words.’”
Rittenhouse said that he next encountered Rosenbaum after being separated from his group and was trying to get to a car lot to put out fires.Testimony from earlier in the trial said Rosenbaum who chased Rittenhouse and may have reached for his rifle moments before being shot.
When talking about his fatal encounter with Rosenbaum, Rittenhouse broke down on the stand and began to sob to the point of not being able to speak. The court adjourned for a short period to allow the teenager to regain his composure. Rittenhouse’s mother also broke down in the courthouse upon watching her son sob on the stand.
The trial is midway through its second week and the prosecution rested their case yesterday. Rittenhouseis accused of intentionally killing Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz, during a night of chaotic unrest in August 2020 in Kenosha two days after a cop shot and partially paralyzed a Black man there.
Rittenhouse’s attorneys are arguing that he shot the men in self-defense after traveling to the protests to supposedly protect a car dealership. He has been charged with one count of first-degree reckless homicide, one count of first-degree intentional homicide, and one count of first-degree attempted intentional homicide, along with several lesser charges.
The day before Grosskreutz testified that he believed Rittenhouse was an active shooter, and was scared for his life in the moments prior to being shot. Grosskreutz told the jury that he had a handgun drawn and was fired upon by Rittenhouse when he pointed his pistol at the teenager.
This story will be updated.
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Mack Lamoureux, Khareem Sudlow
