Jurors see social media videos of Wisconsin shootings on Day 3 of Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial

KENOSHA, Wis. — Prosecutors got right to the heart of the case on the third day of Kyle Rittenhouse's murder trial: More than a dozen videos of a four-block stretch of Sheridan Road recorded on the night Rittenhouse killed two people and wounded a third.

Or was it the heart of the defense?

Rittenhouse's lawyers say he acted in self-defense, and will present much of the same video when they argue he had no choice but to fire eight shots from his AR-15-style rifle.

Kenosha Police Det. Martin Howard testified Wednesday about how quickly he and other investigators collected the mostly amateur videos from social media, where they were widely shared within hours of the shootings.

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Some of the 20 jurors looked disturbed when close-ups were shown in court of Joseph Rosenbaum, laying motionless on the pavement, as a growing number of protesters arrived and yelled.

At least two live streamers returned later to the spot where Rosenbaum was shot to capture images of his blood.

Howard also introduced an enhanced clip of infrared aerial surveillance footage from the FBI. The clip was enhanced with markings to highlight Rittenhouse and Rosenbaum's moments before the shooting.

It's meant to support the prosecution theory that Rittenhouse was chasing Rosenbaum, before they swapped roles and Rittenhouse ran from Rosenbaum.

On cross-examination, defense attorney Mark Richards revealed the same video with the defense's own enhancements, in different colors, that he says shows Rosenbaum lying in wait.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but this looks like a classic ambush, right?" he asked Howard.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger objected and said it did look as if Rosenbaum was hiding among some cars at the Car Source auto lot at 63rd Street.

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Richards also asked Howard about how police could miss a pair of shell casings a resident found four days later under a car, near where Rosenbaum was fatally shot.

"Evidence technicians gathered what they were able to observe that night," Howard said.

Richards noted that even though police got a search warrant for the contents of Gaige Grosskreutz's cellphone last September, they never served it. Authorities never downloaded data from the phone, though they did so on devices belonging to nearly everyone else they determined was involved or could identify or track down.

Grosskreutz, 27, of West Allis, was the last person shot by Rittenhouse.

Howard said there were last minute concerns among police and prosecutors that it would violate Marsy's Law, an amendment to Wisconsin's victim rights law approved by voters in April 2020.

Jurors also heard from Koerrie Washington, a lifelong Kenosha resident and social media influencer who livestreamed hours of the unrest, on the second day of testimony following Monday's jury selection.

"There was lots happening," he told the jury, when asked byBinger about why he went out that night. "I wanted to help create transparency, so there's a record of things."

He said he and other influencers, bloggers and activists who record video at demonstrations supplement traditional news media coverage and "make things better for everyone."

He was still out two nights later, when Rittenhouse was among the crowd. Binger played a portion of Washington's video that night of some conflict at gas station on Sheridan Road. The man Rittenhouse would kill a few minutes later, Joshua Rosenbaum, 36, was acting extremely agitated toward other armed men with rifles, demanding they shoot him.

Washington answered "no" to Binger's questions whether anyone fired a gun and beat up anyone.

"As far as I recall, there was a lot of discourse happening, heated discourse, conversations being had." Washington testified. Binger asked if it led to any violence.

"There may have been nudging." Washington said.

Binger was trying to support his opening statement that, of the hundreds of other people out in the chaos that night, only Rittenhouse shot anyone.

Washington said he'd made a mental note of Rittenhouse, because he looked, was wearing an assault style rifle, wearing blue latex gloves and chain-smoking cigarettes.

"He seemed nervous, unsure. But I suppose a lot of people were" that night. "It's not a slight at him." A little while later, when he saw Rittenhouse run by with a fire extinguisher, he followed and kept recording.

Contact Bruce Vielmetti at (414) 224-2187 or bvielmetti@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ProofHearsay.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kyle Rittenhouse trial: Prosecutors show videos of Wisconsin shootings