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Kyle Rittenhouse (Kyle Rittenhouse) defended himself in a surprising manner in Wednesday’s murder trial, insisting that he was in self-defense and killed two people on a violent riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin last summer. Man and wounded another man.
The 18-year-old Rittenhouse, who faces three felony charges for the shooting, told jurors when he testified that the only reason he was in Kenosha that night was to provide first aid, extinguish fires and protect businesses for demonstrators.
Here are the five main points of the explosive testimony.
When Rittenhouse's lawyer Mark Richards initially questioned him, the teenager still maintained a contempt and composure, calmly explaining his behavior in the chaos of last year.
But when Richards asked about the moment before the shooting that killed the 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum, Rittenhouse was at a loss.
"I was forced to a desperate situation," the boy said, frowning and trying to hold back his tears.
"That was when I was running," Rittenhouse said, and then suddenly sobbed, unable to speak.
Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder told Rittenhouse to "relax" for a while and announced a short break, while Rittenhouse's mother Wendy collapsed in the gallery.
According to the Chicago Tribune reported in court, when the jury was taken out of the room to rest, Rittenhouse and his mother were still crying visibly and audibly. When they left, many jurors looked at visibly sympathetic This teenager.
After the rest, Rittenhouse calmed down and did not collapse again.
During Richards’ questioning, he learned more about Rittenhouse’s behavior before and after the shooting and what happened around him.
The teenager said that the demonstrator Joshua Ziminski (Joshua Ziminski) was accused of shooting in the air before Rittenhouse fired, and another person screamed "Fuck him" after Rosenbaum was shot. Ass, roll his ass".
Rittenhouse testified: "I think the safest option is to surrender north to law enforcement along Sheridan."
"After hearing people say'skull him,''catch him,''kill him,' I continued to run, people were screaming, I just wanted to find the policeman running along Sheridan Road."
When asked why he went to the police, Rittenhouse said it was because he had nothing to hide.
"I did nothing wrong, I defend myself," the boy replied.
"I did what I had to do to stop those who attacked me by killing them."
During the interrogation of Rittenhouse throughout the state, the accused murderer repeatedly insisted that the only reason he stayed in Kenosha during the demonstration was to help others.
He detailed the two first aid kits he had brought and how he asked many people if they needed help, including a woman with a clearly sprained ankle, and she allowed Rittenhouse to put a bandage on her foot.
Rittenhouse explained that he was a trainee at the Antioch Fire Department in Illinois. Although he learned some first aid skills, he was not a certified EMT, even though he told many people that night.
Specifically, Rittenhouse told The Daily Caller's video producer Richard McGinnis that he was an EMT during the interview and tacitly agreed that he was lying.
"You knew you were being interviewed by the media when you told the lie?" Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger asked.
When Binger continued to ask Rittenhouse questions, and when he asked if he would help the person he shot, he threw the teenager's testimony about wanting to help others face to face.
"He is lying face down on the ground, right?" Binger asked Rosenbaum, and Rittenhouse said "yes."
"You declared that you were a doctor and an EMT that night. Did you tell everyone right?" Bingcu continued, and Rittenhouse answered in the affirmative again.
The ADA pointed out that the shooting took place across the street from the hospital, but he did not help Rosenbaum get medical care. Instead, he said that Rittenhouse "first thought of running away."
"My first thought was to help," Rittenhouse replied, but Ice Cube shot back that he "did not do anything to help him."
"You didn't do anything, did you?" Binger said.
Rittenhouse replied that he was only trying to escape the area for his own safety.
"The crowd began to scream, "Grab him!" catch him! catch him! 'I don't want to stay there, the crowd gathers and the mob pushes on me. "
During Binger's cross-examination, the assistant district attorney tried to bring up past events that the judge had previously ruled inadmissible in the pre-trial order.
"You said before that you want your AR-15 to protect someone's property, right?" Binger asked after Rittenhouse testified that lethal force should not be used to protect property.
At that time, the judge stopped the proceedings and asked the jury to leave the room so that he could warn Bingcu about this issue.
"You know very well that lawyers cannot enter these types of areas that the judge has ruled without the presence of the jury, so don't give me that," Schroeder mocked.
Binger explained to the judge that he was trying to "impeach" Rittenhouse's own testimony by bringing up past incidents. The defendant allegedly said he wanted to shoot shoplifters and therefore believed that lethal force should be used to protect the property.
Schroeder countered that just because someone did something on one occasion does not mean they would do it on another occasion.
"This is evidence of inclination. I said at the time that I made that ruling, and now I will repeat it for you again. I think talking about wanting you to have an AR gun that you don’t have, so you can ask these for shoplifting There is no similarity between the people who fired and the events that occurred in these situations," Schroeder growled.
"I commented that I didn't see the similarities, and now I don't see the similarities either."
Later, Rittenhouse’s lawyers used this error as a reason to seek a mistrial based on prejudice, which meant that the teenager could not be tried again for the crime. Schroeder said he would accept the proposal but allow the proceedings to continue.
Additional reporting by Jackie Salo