Kyle Rittenhouse trial: “self-defense” vs. “provoke everything” | Black Lives Matter News

[ad_1]
Kyle Rittenhouse he carried a semi-automatic weapon to threaten others with a protest, caused a bloodshed in the street and after the shooting, went like a “hero in a western,” a prosecutor said in his closing discussion. murder trial.
But Rittenhouse’s lawyer on Monday disputed that argument, saying the shooting started when the young man was ambushed by a “madman” that night and feared he would use it to remove his gun and kill it.
Rittenhouse was 17 when he killed two men and wounded a third in a tumultuous night of protest. racial injustice In August 2020, he exploded following the death of George Floyd, a black policeman who had been kneeling on his neck for more than nine minutes when a black man begged when Floyd pleaded “I can’t breathe.”
Rittenhouse case it has sparked a heated debate in the United States over weapons, racial tensions, surveillance, and law and order.
Rittenhouse said he moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin, Antioch, Illinois, near his home, to protect himself from rioting in the days following a black man. Jacob Blake, was shot seven times and seriously injured by a white police officer. Rittenhouse, a former youth police cadet, is white, just like the one who shot him.
In the closing arguments, prosecutor Thomas Binger repeatedly showed a video of the jury’s drone, saying Rittenhouse was depicting him showing AR-style weapons to protesters.
“You can’t hide behind self-defense if you’ve caused the incident. If you create danger, you will lose your right to self-defense by bringing that gun, aiming at people, threatening people’s lives. The accused provoked everything, ”Binger told the jury.
Rittenhouse, now 18, will face a life sentence for the most serious charge against him if he is convicted of premeditated first-degree homicide because of the Wisconsin murder charge.
Binger began killing 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum, the first man to be shot that night, and his shooting sparked a subsequent bloodshed. The prosecutor repeatedly called the murder, saying it was unjustified.
The prosecutor reminded the jury that Rittenhouse testified that he knew Rosenbaum was unarmed. Binger also said there is no video that supports Rosenbaum’s threat to kill Rittenhouse in support of the defense’s claim.
Binger questioned whether Rosenbaum was trying to take Rittenhouse’s rifle. “Mr. Rosenbaum is not available to the arm when the first shot occurs,” Binger said. Rittenhouse dismissed the idea because he had no choice but to shoot, saying he could escape.
And Binger argued that once Rosenbaum was wounded, he was not even able to remove the gun that was attached to Rittenhouse’s body. Rittenhouse continued the shooting, calling what the prosecutor called a “dead shot” on Rosenbaum’s back.
“I also think we can agree that we don’t have 17-year-olds running on our streets with AR-15s, because that’s what happens,” Binger said.
In his closing argument, defense attorney Mark Richards went after Rittenhouse to call Rosenbaum “root” and “crazy”.
“Mr. Rosenbaum was shot after my client and was going to kill him, grab his gun and carry out the threats he made,” Richards said, adding that Rittenhouse was then attacked by a “mob”.
Richards summed up the testimony of witnesses who have appeared in the past two weeks, saying the prosecution has not proved his case. Rittenhouse’s testimony said the defendant did not need to testify, but wanted to tell his story.
Richards also showed pictures of the evening, as Rittenhouse proved that he was afraid for his life.
“There was no threatening behavior that resulted in that,” Richards said, with the prosecution dismissing Rittenhouse as causing the violence.
“Everyone who was shot was attacking Kyle,” he said, with his hands, feet, skateboard and a gun.
“Kyle Rittenhouse’s conduct was protected by Wisconsin law, a law on self-defense.”
After Rosenbaum was killed, Rittenhouse shot 26-year-old Anthony Huber and wounded 28-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz as he tried to make his way through the crowd.
Rittenhouse testified that Huber hit him with a skateboard and that Grosskreutz hit him with his pistol — a report largely confirmed by videos and prosecution witnesses.
But Binger said Rittenhouse caused the bloodshed following Rosenbaum’s shooting: Huber, Grosskreutz and others in the crowd were trying to stop what they thought. an active attacker.

When it was all over, Rittenhouse went “like a western hero,” not caring about anything he had just done in the world, Binger said.
Richards said the prosecution only saw Rittenhouse as an “active thyroid,” as no one in the crowd on August 25, 2020 thought so.
The jury will begin discussions on Tuesday.
Proponents have called Rittenhouse a hero who took a stand against illegality, and enemies have hailed him as a guardian.
[ad_2]
Source link