Kyle Rittenhouse Takes Stand; Defense Asks For Mistrial

KENOSHA, WI — Former Illinois teen Kyle Rittenhouse spent more than six hours on the stand Wednesday, sharing his account of the fatal shootings in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and becoming emotional at times.

Rittenhouse, 18, who currently lives in Walworth County, Wisconsin, was called as a defense witness Wednesday — the seventh day of the trial — claiming he acted in self-defense amid crowds of protestors in Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020. He said he fatally shot two men and injured a third after being attacked on the streets. He said he feared his gun would be taken and used on him.

As he described the seconds before he shot Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, four times with an AR-15 rifle, he started sobbing and struggled to catch his breath while on the stand Wednesday morning.

"I wanted to help Mr. Rosenbaum, and if the crowd wouldn't have started to scream 'get him' I would've done everything I could do to help him," Rittenhouse said.

Rittenhouse spoke about his decision to go to Kenosha with friends, cleaning up graffiti at a school earlier in the day and then providing medical attention to those who needed it during a third night of unrest in the city. Chaos erupted there in the days after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, who was paralyzed.

During two instances Wednesday, Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder asked the jury to leave the room and sternly admonished Kenosha County assistant district attorney Thomas Binger on his lines of questioning. Defense attorney Mark Richards claimed Binger, "an experienced trial lawyer," was purposely throwing the case to "invoke a mistrial" because "the first trial is going badly."

Schroeder said he'd take the defense's mistrial request Wednesday afternoon into advisement but decided to continue the testimony.

Photo Updates: Kyle Rittenhouse Testifies In His Murder Trial

Rittenhouse, 18, could face life in prison if a jury finds him guilty of first-degree intentional homicide. He is also charged with first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree recklessly endangering safety, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, possession of a dangerous wepaon by a person under age 18 and use of a dangerous weapon.

Rittenhouse says he acted in self-defense, claiming he was attacked, ambushed and chased by mobs down the streets of Kenosha prior to turning his gun on Rosenbaum, 36; Anthony Huber, 26; and Gaige Grosskreutz, 26. Huber and Rosenbaum both died, and Grosskreutz was injured.

Rittenhouse said prior to the shootings, he was just a "normal teen." He spoke about how he worked, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, for the YMCA in Lindenhurst, was a certified lifeguard and also a former police explorer for the Grayslake Police Department. He was also a firefighter cadet for the Antioch Fire Department, he said.

Binger took shots Wednesday at Rittenhouse’s character. He touched on Rittenhouse’s TikTok account bio that stated “Bruh I'm just tryna be famous.”

“His behavior that night was used to make him famous. And now he’s famous. He is on trial, in my opinion, exclusively for his decision-making” said Binger as he reasoned with Schroeder regarding his lines of questioning after the defense’s mistrial request.

Rittenhouse did not have a driver’s license but drove to Kenosha, Binger said. He was out after curfew, which was set up in Kenosha due to the unrest, and claimed to be an EMT when he was not, he said. In addition, Rittenhouse, who was 17 years old at the time of the shooting, was in illegal possession of a gun.

Rittenhouse asked a friend to buy the AR-15 because it “looked cool” and then requested he store the gun at his stepdad’s home in Kenosha, Rittenhouse said during his testimony. While on the stand, Rittenhouse claimed he did not know it was illegal to possess the gun in Wisconsin and said he’d applied for a FOID card in Illinois but did not have one at the time of the shooting. In Illinois, he said, you can get a FOID at age 16.

He said he was ultimately denied the FOID because of the criminal charges filed in the case.

Rittenhouse said he used the gun only once before Aug. 25, 2020, for recreational purposes when he went with his friend to his family’s land to shoot at targets.

“Did this big, long AR-15 got in the way when you were trying to help people?

“Yes, sometimes it did.”

At one point, Richards questioned Rittenhouse at length regarding his interactions with Rosenbaum that night.

"Was there any friction between your group and the protestors, rioters?" Richards asked Rittenhouse Wednesday.

"No, the only kind of stuff that happened is that the person who attacked me first threatened to kill me twice," said Rittenhouse, referring to interactions with Rosenbaum.

The defense called Rittenhouse to the stand at about 9:35 a.m. Schroeder called a break at about 10:25 a.m. as Rittenhouse became emotional, sobbing on the stand as he described the seconds before he fatally shot Rosenbaum.

He said he went to the Car Source parking lot to help put out fires. There, he said, he first ran into Joshua Zimenski, who was armed with a pistol, and Rosenbaum. He told the courtroom he planned to retreat.

"Once I take that step back I look over my shoulder and Mr. Rosenbaum was now running from my right side, um, and I was cornered from in front of me with Mr. Zimenski ... and there were," said Rittenhouse as he started to cry. He struggled to catch his breath and sobbed prior to Schroeder suggesting the court take a brief recess.

Rittenhouse said Rosenbaum lunged at him, "his arms out in front of him," and he had his hands on his gun when he shot him. Hundreds of people were around him and people were screaming "get his ass, get him," Rittenhouse said.

"There was a mob that was chasing me. I continue to run after I hear people say, 'Kill him, get him,'" Rittenhouse said. "I was just trying to get to the police..."

As he was running down Sheridan Road, he said Huber hit him in the head with a skateboard and someone else threw a rock at him. He kept running down Sheridan toward police "when he got lightheaded, stumbled and hit the ground," Rittenhouse testified.

"As I’m on the ground there are people around me I don’t recall how many but I remember moving my rifle in their direction and they move back off except for one person...the last person, I don’t know his name, I don’t think he was ever identified, jumps at me as his boot makes contact with my face and I fire two shots at him," Rittenhouse said. That man has never been identified and was not hit.

"He would’ve stomped my face in if I didn’t fire," Rittenhouse added. Right after that, he said Huber came after him and hit him again with his skateboard, grabbing his gun and beginning to pull it away from him.

"I fire one shot," said Rittenhouse, referencing the fatal shot to Huber's chest. He said then Grosskreutz lunged at him with "his pistol pointed at my head" and he shot Grosskreutz.

From there, Rittenhouse said he walked with his arms up to turn himself into Kenosha police officers parked on the outskirts of the protests on Sheridan Road. He said he told a police officer he "just shot someone."

"The officer says 'get the [expletive] back or you’re going to get pepper-sprayed. Go home, Go home, go home,'" he testified. He then drove home and turned himself into police at the Antioch Police Department in Illinois.

Judge chastises prosecutor

Early in the afternoon, the defense claimed Binger was purposely overstepping the line in his questioning as a way to throw the trial. Schroeder first asked the jury to leave the room after a question by Binger touched on Rittenhouse’s right to remain silent after his arrest, which is a fifth amendment constitutional right. Schroeder said it was a “grave constitutional violation.”

“You’re right on the borderline. You may be over. You better stop,” Schroeder said.

The other admonishment centered around Binger’s questions touching on information Schroeder ruled could not be used as evidence. In August, the state filed a motion to use a video that appeared to show Rittenhouse threatening strangers he believed were shoplifting at a CVS Pharmacy.

"Bro, I wish I had my [expletive] AR, I'd start shooting rounds at them," the person identified as Rittenhouse said, Kenosha News reported. Rittenhouse isn't visible in the video.

On Wednesday, Binger asked Rittenhouse about a different incident where he indicated he had an AR-15 to protect someone else’s property.

Richards said Binger is an experienced trial lawyer and believes he is purposely trying to “invoke a mistrial” because “the first trial is going badly.” Binger reasoned with the judge, stating he’s acting “in good faith” and did not believe Schroeder had made a concrete decision on the CVS video.

“I don’t believe you...when you say you were acting in good faith, I don’t believe you,” Schroeder said.

Binger pressed Rittenhouse regarding his decision to turn around while Rosenbaum was chasing him in the car dealership parking lot and point his gun at him. Moments later he shot Rosenbaum.

"I continued to fire until he was no longer a threat to me," Rittenhouse said.

Binger played video that shows Rittenhouse making a phone call as a different person comes to Rosenbaum's aid, taking off his shirt and using it as a tourniquet. Rittenhouse then runs from the scene, claiming he needed to escape a "mob" surrounding him and threatening to kill him, but the video shows no one following him.

"No one in that crowd yells, 'get him' until after you start running away," Binger said. "You had time in that moment to make a phone call. You could have called 911 but you instead decided to call your best friend."

"I called the first number in my phone," Rittenhouse said. Binger questioned him about why Rittenhouse, who had first aid training and claimed that night to be a medic, didn't offer medical help to Rosenbaum.

“When you pulled the trigger of the AR015 and it's directly against Anthony Huber’s chest, what did you think would happen?" Binger asked

"That he’d no longer be a threat to my safety," Rittenhouse said.

The defense is expected to continue to present its case Thursday and the trial is expected to run into early next week.

Under Wisconsin law, a person can act in self-defense under certain circumstances. The statute states:

A person is privileged to threaten or intentionally use force against another for the purpose of preventing or terminating what the person reasonably believes to be an unlawful interference with his or her person by such other person. The actor may intentionally use only such force or threat thereof as the actor reasonably believes is necessary to prevent or terminate the interference. The actor may not intentionally use force which is intended or likely to cause death or great bodily harm unless the actor reasonably believes that such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself.