The man accused of shooting three people – two fatally – during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year is standing trial.
Defense lawyers say Kyle Rittenhouse, then 17, was acting in self-defense last August when he shot and killed Anthony Huber, 26, and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and injured Gaige Grosskreutz, now 27.
Last week, Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder said the three men can potentially be referred to as “rioters” or “looters” during the trial but reiterated his longstanding rule that attorneys not refer to them as “victims.”
Rittenhouse is charged with felony homicide related to the killings of Huber and Rosenbaum and felony attempted homicide in connection with Grosskreutz’s injury. He is also charged with possession of a dangerous weapon while under the age of 18, a misdemeanor. He has pleaded not guilty.
Here’s what we know about the two men killed and the sole survivor of the shootings:
Joseph Rosenbaum
On the night of Aug. 25, 2020, Kenosha’s streets were filled with crowds protesting the police shooting of Jacob Blake, who was shot seven times in the back and side by a Kenosha police officer who said he was trying to detain him.
During those demonstrations, Rittenhouse clashed with a crowd gathered near a car dealership and Rosenbaum, who was unarmed, threw an object that appeared to be a plastic bag at him and missed, according to a criminal complaint filed last year. Rosenbaum and Rittenhouse moved across the parking lot and appeared to be close to each other when loud bangs suddenly rang out and Rosenbaum fell to the ground, the complaint said.
A reporter approached Rosenbaum, who was on the ground and tried to render aid. As Rosenbaum lay on the ground, Rittenhouse made a call on his cellphone and said, “I just killed somebody” as he ran away, the complaint alleged.
Anthony Huber
Huber, who was in the crowd of protesters with his girlfriend, was killed as Rittenhouse fled the scene of Rosenbaum’s shooting, according to the complaint.
Huber had turned 26 just four days earlier, according to an obituary.
Huber spotted the armed man in the crowded street and he ran toward danger, his girlfriend, Hannah Gittings, told CNN in an interview last year.
“He pushed me out of the way and ran off. I tried to grab him,” Hannah Gittings said. She referred to what Huber had done as a “heroic thing.”
Videos from the scene show Rittenhouse carrying an AR-15-style rifle, walking the city’s streets with a group of armed men. Gittings told CNN her boyfriend launched at the armed individual to protect her and other people nearby.
Huber appeared to reach for Rittenhouse’s gun with his hand while holding his skateboard in the other, the criminal complaint said. As Huber tried to grab the gun, Rittenhouse pointed it at his body and fired one round, according to the complaint. Huber was seen staggering away and then fell to the ground, the complaint said. He died from his gunshot wound.
Gaige Grosskreutz
Rittenhouse shot and injured Grosskreutz, who approached him shortly after Huber was shot, the criminal complaint alleged. Grosskreutz ducked to the ground when Huber was shot and took a step back, according to the complaint.
He put his hands in the air and then began to move toward Rittenhouse, who then fired one shot, hitting Grosskreutz in the arm, according to the complaint. Grosskreutz was holding a handgun but had his hands up, the complaint says.
Grosskreutz ran away from the scene, screaming for a medic, according to the complaint.
“I think about the screams, about the gunshots. I think about everything, all the time,” Grosskreutz told CNN’s Sara Sidner in a September 2020 interview. “This is something that either you let consume you or you need to become stronger because of it.”
Grosskreutz was wearing his “paramedic” hat at the time. He said his goal during the protest was to provide medical care to anyone who needed it. He had previously trained as a paramedic before deciding to attend a liberal arts college in Wisconsin.
“While my work as a paramedic was important to the community I felt it was reactive: somebody gets shot, somebody overdoses,” he had told CNN. “I wanted to further my understanding of the world and further educate myself and then be on the proactive side. Stop people from getting shot, stop people from overdosing.”
Since the shooting, he had to undergo several surgeries and treatments.
Read more details about them here.
Source: www.cnn.com