5 takeaways from Day 1 of Kyle Rittenhouse trial

As Kyle Rittenhouse went on trial Monday for shooting three men during protests in Wisconsin that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake last summer, the large demonstrations some anticipated never materialized as lawyers impaneled a jury after a marathon day in court.

Rittenhouse, 18, has pleaded not guilty, arguing he killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz in self defense. Here are five takeaways from the first day of jury selection in the politically charged case.

True to his word, Kenosha Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder and the attorneys selected a jury of 12 people and eight alternates in one day. Five dozen potential jurors were dismissed after hours of courtroom questioning. Some mentioned work, family or other personal commitments as to why they were not equal to the task. Others said they were too fearful. Many people said they had formed opinions on the self-defense case and could not be impartial. About 150 potential jurors were brought to the courthouse in the morning. The first large pool brought into court was nearly all white, while the other group listened from the county board room.

A few groups of demonstrators gathered peacefully outside the stately courthouse the first day of the trial. Among the small crowd was Justin Blake, whose nephew Jacob Blake’s shooting by a Kenosha police officer in August 2020 sparked the unrest. Toting a unity flag, Justin Blake said he came to support the slain men’s families. Community activist Porche Bennett-Bey also spoke out from the courthouse steps against the judge’s decision banning prosecutors from referring to the men Rittenhouse shot as “victims.” The defense, however, will be allowed to call them “rioters, looters and arsonists” if they present evidence supporting the claim. “They were killed,” Bennett-Bey said. “They’re victims. I don’t care how anybody puts it.” A few demonstrators said they support Rittenhouse. One of them, a woman, was holding an anti-Black Lives Matter sign that Bennett-Bey later tore up.

Judge Schroeder, the state’s longest-serving circuit judge, has a reputation for presiding over cases with a hard line, but he didn’t shy away Monday from getting chatty with potential jurors. To put them at ease, the judge started the day with a mock trivia game, which is something he is known to do as attorneys prepare their cases. The “Jeopardy!” style game included questions about the ‘80s band Duran Duran and movie “Psycho.” The judge also lectured the group on the importance of jury duty while providing historical oratories about war and battle and the fall of Rome in the context of how the jury process evolved.

The criminal case has laid bare the country’s deep political divide over race, police brutality and gun rights, with Rittenhouse being hailed as a patriot by gun rights advocates. But Judge Schroeder stopped one juror in mid-sentence when he began to share his Second Amendment stance. “This is not a political trial,” said the judge, telling potential jurors it will be tried on the law and the evidence. “I want this case to reflect the greatness of Kenosha and the fairness of Kenosha, and I don’t want it to get sidetracked into other issues. The Second Amendment like all the constitutional provisions have a role in this case but they are not the focus.”

John Huber and Karen Bloom maintain their son, Anthony Huber, 26, a demonstrator who was protesting the police shooting, is a hero who sacrificed his life to protect others. John Huber has attended all pretrial hearings via video conference, but the family’s attorney said he will not attend the trial due to the hateful rhetoric that has been directed at the family since the shooting and instead will watch the trial remotely on television. “It’s still too painful, and after the nasty comments and treatment they have had directed at them and Anthony, they are afraid to be there in person,” attorney Anand Swaminathan said. “But they will both be watching the trial intently.”