![]() ![]() “They were not protesters,” Rittenhouse’s attorney Mark Richards said in court. The defense lawyers never denied that strategy and instead told the judge that they intended to tie the men to the violent acts that occurred throughout the downtown that night. In the weeks leading up to the trial, prosecutors repeatedly tried - and almost always failed - to prevent Rittenhouse’s attorneys from portraying the men Rittenhouse shot as lawless demonstrators who wreaked havoc on the city. It does strengthen his position that he was simply trying to protect the public and that at a certain point, he was acting in self-defense.” “The police are in a position of great authority and he feels that they’re welcoming him there. But at the same time, the jury has to see it from the mind of this 17-year-old kid,” said John Gross, director of the Public Defender Project at the University of Wisconsin Law School. We can all be very unhappy about the fact that the police welcomed him there and I think that shows astonishingly poor judgment on the part of the police. Legal experts, however, believe the recording may offer the best, most effective explanation for Rittenhouse’s mindset that night. In opting to allow the video, Schroeder said he wouldn’t permit the defense to argue the encouraging words reflected the police department’s overall opinion of the armed vigilantes. Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth shrugged off the interaction after the shootings, saying his deputies would “toss water to anybody.” “We appreciate you guys,” the officer said. One officer can be heard on the recording expressing his gratitude to the group. Over prosecutors’ objections, Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder ruled the jury can see a video taken before the shooting in which officers in an armored vehicle tossed bottles of water to him and other armed civilians who were clearly violating the city’s 8 p.m. The judge will allow the teen’s attorneys to paint the latter portrait with evidence showing that local police seemingly supported the teen’s presence that night. Some see Rittenhouse as a vigilante who recklessly brought a gun to a chaotic scene, while others claim he’s a patriot who was protecting both himself and the community when he shot the three men in self-defense. The shootings have become a flashpoint in the national debate over gun rights and racial inequities, with video from that night only cementing the ideologies of those who watch it. Despite not being old enough to openly carry a gun, Rittenhouse volunteered as an armed security guard after businesses had been burned and vandalized during demonstrations held the previous day. Then 17 and living in Antioch, Rittenhouse fired the shots while patrolling downtown Kenosha, Wisconsin, with an AR-15 rifle amid the turmoil and unrest surrounding the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by a white police officer. Rittenhouse has pleaded not guilty to the charges and says he acted in self-defense when he fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz in August 2020. ![]() “I think that this is a very unpredictable case, and that’s partly why the judge’s decisions are so momentous.” Ziv Cohen, a forensic psychiatrist who has consulted on more than 50 murder cases. “I’ve never seen a case that’s so complicated to try to disentangle the motives and countermotives of all of the players in the street,” said Dr. 25, 2020 file photo, Gaige Grosskreutz (top) tends to an injured protester during clashes with police outside the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis. (Though not universal, it is not unheard of for judges to feel that the word "victim" presupposes the defendant's guilt.In this Aug. And I think 'alleged victim' is a cousin to it," Judge Bruce Schroeder said on Monday, asking prosecutors to instead use the terms "complaining witness" or "decedent" to refer to those shot by Rittenhouse. "The word 'victim' is a loaded, loaded word. In a proceeding about the ground rules for the upcoming trial, prosecutors and defense lawyers debated whether certain language, witnesses or evidence would be allowed. Prosecutors in the criminal trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who shot and killed two protesters last year in Kenosha, Wis., will not be able to refer to the people he shot as "victims," a judge has ruled, while defense attorneys may be able to call them "arsonists" or "looters." Prosecutors decried as a double standard the decision to allow the people Kyle Rittenhouse shot to be referred to "arsonists," "looters" or "rioters."
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