CNN is reporting that Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who killed two people and shot another during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer, has been acquitted of all charges in his homicide trial, CNN reports.
The charges stem from the chaotic unrest last year in the wake of the Kenosha Police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man.
Rittenhouse, 17 at the time, took a medical kit and an AR-15-style rifle and joined up with a group of other armed people in Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020. That night, Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum – who was chasing the teenager and threw a plastic bag at him – and then tried to flee the area. A crowd of people pursued the teenager, and Rittenhouse shot at a man who tried to kick him; fatally shot Anthony Huber, who had hit him with a skateboard; and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, who was armed with a pistol.
The verdict comes after a two-week trial highlighted by Rittenhouse taking the stand and telling the jury he shot the men in self-defense.
“I didn’t do anything wrong. I defended myself,” he testified.
This is a developing story.
