On Tuesday, Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old white male, drove over 20 miles to Kenosha, Wisconsin with a rifle. He said he wanted to protect local businesses from protestors in that city, which had been thrown into chaos after the brutal killing of an unarmed Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse drove up to the protest before he shot and killed two people and severely injured one.
On Thursday, Rittenhouse was charged with six counts for the fatal shooting- two counts for recklessly endangering public safety, one for attempted first-degree intentional homicide, one for first-degree reckless homicide, and one first-degree intentional homicide. Despite the charges, Rittenhouse was spared his life and many have voiced frustration at the obvious display of white privilege at work.
Rittenhouse claimed that he was in Kenosha to administer aid to others and protect private property, but he was later recorded on multiple videos patrolling the streets and carrying an AR-15 style rifle.
I interviewed the alleged shooter before the violence started.
Full video coming soon: pic.twitter.com/G3dVOJozN7
— Richie McG (@RichieMcGinniss) August 26, 2020
The shooting occurred at a service station as tensions between protesters and armed men were growing. The encounter began with a physical altercation and ended when Rittenhouse fired shots at Joseph Rosenbaun, 36, who died from a bullet wound to the head.
After the initial shooting, Rittenhouse ran but was pursued by protesters. At one point, he stumbled and was hit over the head with a skateboard; however, he quickly regained his footing and began firing aimlessly into the crowd of people.
Anthony Huber, 26, was killed and Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, was shot in the arm but will likely recover.
Following the shootings, Rittenhouse attempted to surrender but he was ordered to leave the street by police as vehicles approached the scene. Authorities assume that Rittenhouse then returned to his home in Antioch, Illinois. He is now in the custody of the Lake County Judicial System.
This is America‼️‼️‼️‼️ #JacobBlake #KyleRittenhouse pic.twitter.com/k89zheGoAk
— MaddogTV (@JDOGdaGREAT) August 28, 2020
In the days since the shooting, Rittenhouse has been treated with great generosity by some media outlets, including the New York Post, which Tweeted a picture of Rittenhouse cleaning graffiti before the shooting.
Suspected teen gunman Kyle Rittenhouse spotted cleaning Kenosha graffiti before shooting https://t.co/Cm2t1DFqws pic.twitter.com/lFgz8qh7cC
— New York Post (@nypost) August 27, 2020
