A witness to the injured teenage Rittenhouse in the US saw Reuters as an “active tyrant”

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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: State witness Jason Lackowksi is defended by defense attorney Corey Chirafisi at the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse in the Kenosha (Wisconsin) Kenosha (Wisconsin) Circuit Court on November 5, 2021. Via Mark Hertzberg / Pool REUTERS / File Photo
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Author: Nathan Layne
KENOSHA, Wisconsin, Reuters
Rittenhouse, 18, charged with the deaths of two men and Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, charged with murder in racial justice protests https://www.reuters.com/world/us/case-us-teenage-gunman-kyle -rittenhouse-2021-11 -01 August 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after police shot a black man.
Grosskreutz, a former paramedic who was armed with a gun that night, said he was following Rittenhouse because he heard gunshots and saw protesters chasing him. He thought he would need medical help.
“I thought the accused was an active shooter,” Grosskreutz told the jury.
In the pursuit of the protesters Rittenhouse stumbled to the ground. The teenager shot 26-year-old Anthony Huber, who threw him a skateboard.
Grosskreutz, who was approaching the teenager, froze after shooting Huber, took a step back and put his hands in the air while still holding the gun, according to video evidence and a criminal complaint filed a few days after last year’s shootings.
Grosskreutz said Monday that with his hands in the air he believed Rittenhouse had “re-inserted” the rifle, and by effectively firing another shot into the attic, he was ready to fire the gun. Grosskreutz said he interpreted this as “that the accused did not accept my surrender.”
“At that moment I felt I had to do something to kill myself or avoid being shot,” Grosskreutz said, adding that with the gun in his hand, he never intended to use it.
A few minutes earlier, Rittenhouse shot and killed Jason Rosenbaum, 36, in the parking lot of a used car dealership. Then Rittenhouse ran away and several protesters started chasing him, some shouting “Take your ass!” according to video evidence and allegation.
Grosskreutz’s testimony could be crucial as the trial enters its second week. Last week, several witnesses testified that they seemed to support the teen’s self-defense claim, especially in the case of Rosenbaum https://www.reuters.com/world/us/man-killed-by-rittenhouse-challenged-group . -shoot-him-used-racial-slur-witness-2021-11-05.
For prosecutors, the only chance for Grosskreutz to question a survivor and get testimony is to dismiss the idea that it was a threat to Rittenhouse as he fired a bullet that seriously injured Grosskreutz in his right arm.
Rittenhouse has pleaded not guilty to life imprisonment. His lawyer told the court that Rittenhouse would take a stand in his defense.
Mark Richards, a lawyer for Rittenhouse, said the evidence would show Grosskreutz was “following” his client, and that an expert who wanted to call in to study the video of the shooting would determine that Grosskreutz had a threat.
“The slowed down video of our self-defense expert will leave no doubt as to what his intention was,” Richards wrote in an email to Reuters.
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