The rifle Kyle Rittenhouse used in self-defense to kill two attackers and wound a third amid Kenosha, Wisconsin, rioting in the summer of 2020 has been destroyed — and the moment was documented on video.
What are the details?
The Wisconsin State Crime Lab destroyed rifle Feb. 25; it had been in police custody since the August 2020 shootings, WISN-TV reported.
In the video, a cardboard box is opened which contains a Smith & Wesson AR-15 rifle along with a red-dot sight and a 30-round magazine. Officials verify that the rifle is from the Rittenhouse case and declare it will be destroyed “by mechanical shredding.”
With that, the rifle is then placed into the shredder, followed by the sight and the magazine.
Image source: WTMJ-TV video screenshot
Image source: WTMJ-TV video screenshot
All that’s left is a pile of scraps:
Image source: WTMJ-TV video screenshot
Anything else?
Rittenhouse’s attorneys and prosecutors agreed in January that the gun would be destroyed, the Associated Press said, adding that Rittenhouse’s lead attorney, Mark Richards, said Rittenhouse didn’t want someone to buy it and turn it into a trophy. The AP added that the agreement called for the process to be recorded.
WISN said it was the same reason Rittenhouse wanted his clothing back from the night of the shooting.
Rittenhouse was 17 at the time of the shooting, which is too young to buy a firearm in Wisconsin, the AP said, adding that his friend, Dominick Black, bought the rifle for him earlier that year. The outlet added that Black pleaded no contest in January to contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
A Kenosha jury in November found Rittenhouse not guilty of killing Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum and not guilty of wounding Gaige Grosskreutz, agreeing that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense in a murder trial that captured international attention.
After his acquittal, leftists exploded with rage. Talking heads and celebrities suffered meltdowns. President Joe Biden — who referred to Rittenhouse as a white supremacist — said he was “angry and concerned” over the verdict. And protests erupted across the country, with agitators launching urine and chanting “burn it down” and spray-painting “kill Kyle” graffiti.
As for Rittenhouse, he said last month that he would look into filing lawsuits against Whoopi Goldberg of “The View” and the Young Turks’ Cenk Uygur, along with politicians, news organizations, athletes, and other celebrities “for the lies they said” about him.