A courtroom erupts and a community braces: Kenosha reacts to Kyle Rittenhouse verdict
The crowd outside the Kenosha courthouse erupted into scenes of chaos, shouting and pushing as Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted on all charges.
Supporters of the teenager waved signs and proclaimed victory over loud speakers for gun control activists, self-defence and conservative causes - some of which had nothing to do with the violence that unfolded on 25 August 2020
Simultaneously, relatives of Jacob Blake, whose shooting in the back seven times by police prompted the protest that drew in Mr Rittenhouse, called for justice for the victims and a more fair legal system that they hoped would have seen him behind bars.
Schools had shut down in Wisconsin on Thursday and the downtown Kenosha streets were abandoned as the local community and nation waited nervously for the verdict.
“I think people are staying away from the courthouse, because they want to be safe and smart,” says local business owner Michelle Reber, 42.
“I think we’re all very concerned about what’s going to happen [to] our business and our fellow businesses and our fellow community.”
Mr Rittenhouse, a white Illinois native had five felonies for allegedly shooting two people dead last year with a semiautomatic weapon when he was 17.
The case, presided over by Judge Bruce Shroeder in Kenosha – just over an hour north of Chicago along the shores of Lake Michigan – has attracted national and international attention.
It is the latest chapter of drama in this Wisconsin city, which first started on the steps of the courthouse in Kenosha, a majestic building on a sprawling square just minutes from the picturesque waterfront.
It was from here that a local private investigator put out a call last summer, amidst racial unrest following the police shooting of an unarmed Black man, for armed citizens to gather and protect Kenosha. And it was that call that brought a 17-year-old from neighbouring Illinois to the normally quiet working-middle-class city halfway between Chicago and Milwaukee.
On Friday, it was at the courthouse where it all ended, as teenager Kyle Rittenhouse learned his fate after he shot three people, killing two, on a tumultuous night last August.
Everyone involved in the Rittenhouse shooting was white, but the incident has become a flashpoint topic across the board – with groups from Black Lives Matter, antifa, Second Amendment advocates and libertarians all using Kenosha and Mr Rittenhouse as rallying cries.
The Illinois teen, an aspiring police officer, was charged with five felonies in connection with his actions on 25 August 2020, when he came to Kenosha – just over a half hour northeast of his town in Antioch, Illinois – in response to an internet call by former city alderman Kevin Mathewson. Kenosha was in turmoil after Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old father, had been shot seven times in the back by local police.
Preparing for continued unrest, Mr Mathewson asked “patriots” to meet him on the steps of the Kenosha courthouse to defend the city, which has a population of roughly 100,000 and, as of the 2010 census, was 77 per cent white and 10 per cent Black.
Mr Rittenhouse drove himself to Kenosha with an AR-15-style weapon – an assault rifle he was too young to legally own at the time – and a first aid kit. He joined the white vigilantes as protesters swarmed the streets, set fires and destroyed businesses and properties. Locals were sheltering at home or fleeing to friends further outside of the city; helicopters were circling, tear gas was being deployed and reports of self-deputized armed groups with “long guns” were reverberating over police scanners.
Mr Rittenhouse was among them.
At some point, in response to warning shots fired in the air, he panicked as a figure lunged at him and shot the man four times. That set off a tragic chain of events, as others attempted to tackle the teenager and grab his weapon; two more people were shot in the process.
Mr Rittenhouse was allowed to leave the scene – still armed with his gun. There were reports of local law enforcement not only thanking the white vigilantes but offering them water. When Mr Rittenhouse finally turned himself in, he was questioned and eventually charged in the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and the wounding of paramedic Gaige Grosskreutz.
He was charged with one count of first-degree intentional homicide in connection with the death of Mr Huber; that carries a mandatory life sentence. Mr Rittenhouse has maintained that he acted in self defence.
The teen was also charged with one count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide for wounding the paramedic and one count of first-degree reckless homicide in Rosenbaum’s death.
On top of that, he was charged with two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment for firing at an unknown man who tried to kick him in the face and allegedly disregarding the fact that a reporter was standing behind Rosenbaum when he shot him.
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