#KyleRittenhouseDeliberation

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KYLE RITTENHOUSE FOUND NOT GUILTY

KYLE RITTENHOUSE FOUND NOT GUILTY KYLE RITTENHOUSE. THE American teenager who shot and killed two men and wounded another during protests against police brutality and riots in Wisconsin last year; has been acquitted of all charges today. A jury found Rittenhouse, 18, not guilty of reckless and intentional homicide and other charges stemming from the shootings that took place in August 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse, who claimed the shootings were self-defence, sobbed as the verdict was read and sank into his chair. He rushed out of the courtroom after the jury was dismissed. Rittenhouse, 18, faced a slew of charges, including first-degree reckless homicide, over his conduct on Aug. 25, 2020, amid unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a local Black father. During two incidents caught on camera, Rittenhouse fired an AR-15 and killed 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum and 26-year-old Anthony Huber. He also severely wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, now 27. The verdict was being read, a trembling Rittenhouse wept and collapsed. His mom, Wendy Rittenhouse, and other family were seen crying in the courtroom gallery. After Kenosha Judge Bruce Schroeder insisted he “couldn’t have asked for a better jury” and said they were free to leave the Kenosha courthouse, a sheriff’s deputy escorted Rittenhouse through a back door. Read the full article

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MSNBC Banned From Kyle Rittenhouse Courthouse

MSNBC Banned From Kyle Rittenhouse Courthouse The judge overseeing Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial banned MSNBC from the courthouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin; on Thursday when a freelance producer working for the network, accused of following a bus carrying jurors the previous night.  “I have instructed that nobody from MSNBC news be permitted in this building for the duration of this trial,” Judge Bruce Schroeder said during a hearing. The judge added that he would think “long and hard” about allowing cameras for live coverage of future trials.  The Kenosha Police Department said in a statement Thursday afternoon; "that a person alleging to be affiliated with a national media outlet” was briefly taken into custody and issued several traffic citations. The department noted that “no breach of security” took place and the person did not take any photos. The trial deliberated for a third full day without reaching a verdict on Thursday. The jury members will return on Today to resume their work. Unlike on previous days, they had no questions & no requests to review any evidence Thursday in the politically and racially fraught case. Rittenhouse, then 17 years old and a former police youth cadet; shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26. He wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, now 28. Rittenhouse, as well as those shot, are white.  He could get life in prison if convicted of first-degree intentional homicide. The most serious of the five charges against him. Rittenhouse testified that he acted in self-defence. On Wednesday, Rittenhouse’s attorneys asked the judge to declare a mistrial as the jury was deliberating. They claimed the defense received an inferior copy of a potentially crucial video from prosecutors. Read the full article

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Kyle Rittenhouse Does A Bingo Draw to determine his own Jury

KENOSHA, Wis. -- Jurors set to begin deliberating today at Kyle Rittenhouse murder trial. After two weeks of testimony in which prosecutors and defense attorneys painted starkly different pictures of his actions the night he shot three men on the streets of Kenosha. Prosecutors claimed in closing arguments Monday that Rittenhouse was a "wannabe soldier"; who provoked the bloodshed by bringing a semi-automatic rifle to a protest and menacing others. Then walking off like a "hero in a Western" after killing two men and wounding a third. But Rittenhouse lawyer countered that Rittenhouse acted in self-defence after ambushed by a "crazy person". He feared would wrestle away his gun and use it to kill him. Jurors listened to a full day of arguments; before being told to return in the morning for the start of deliberations in the case that has stirred fierce debate in the U.S. over guns, vigilantism, law & order. Eighteen jurors have been hearing the case; the 12 who will decide Rittenhouse's fate & the six who will be designated alternates were to be determined by a drawing from a raffle drum. Kyle Rittenhouse, then 17, opened fire during a tumultuous night of protests against racial injustice in the summer of 2020. He said he went to Kenosha from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to protect property from rioters in the days after a Black man; Jacob Blake, was shot by a white Kenosha police officer. Rittenhouse, a former police youth cadet, is white, as were those he shot.

In closing arguments

Prosecutor Thomas Binger said Rittenhouse was "looking for trouble that night". He repeatedly showed the jury drone video that he said depicted Rittenhouse pointing the AR-style weapon at demonstrators. "This is the provocation. This is what starts this incident," the prosecutor declared. He added: "You lose the right to self-defense when you're the one who brought the gun, when you are the one creating the danger, when you're the one provoking other people." Rittenhouse, now 18, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted of the most serious charge against him; first-degree intentional homicide, which is Wisconsin's top murder charge. Binger zeroed in on the killing of 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum, who was the first man gunned down that night & whose shooting set in motion those that followed. The prosecutor repeatedly called it murder; saying it was unjustified, and reminded jurors that Rittenhouse testified he knew Rosenbaum was unarmed. Binger also said there is no video to support the defense claim that Rosenbaum threatened to kill Rittenhouse; and contended Rittenhouse could have just run away. Binger also disputed the claim that Rosenbaum was trying to grab Rittenhouse's rifle, which he said was not within arm's reach when the first shot occurred. Binger argued that once Rosenbaum was wounded, he was incapable of taking away the gun; which was strapped to Rittenhouse's body, since he was falling to the ground with a fractured pelvis. Rittenhouse kept firing, delivering what the prosecutor called the "kill shot" to Rosenbaum's back.

"I think we can also agree that we shouldn't have 17-year-olds running around our streets with AR-15s, because this is exactly what happens," Binger said. In his own closing argument, defense attorney Mark Richards called Rosenbaum a "crazy person"; who was "hell-bent on causing trouble that night" and went after Rittenhouse unprovoked. "Mr. Rosenbaum was shot because he was chasing my client and going to kill him, take his gun and carry out the threats he made". Richards said, adding that Rittenhouse never pointed his gun before being chased: "It didn't happen." Richards said an enlarged image that prosecutors said, shows Kyle Rittenhouse pointing his gun at protesters is "hocus pocus" that doesn't prove anything. After killing Rosenbaum, Rittenhouse shot and killed Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 28; while trying to make his way through the crowd. Rittenhouse testified that Huber hit him with a skateboard and that Grosskreutz came at him with a gun of his own; an account largely corroborated by video and Grosskreutz himself. The prosecutor said Huber, Grosskreutz & others in the crowd were trying to stop what they believed was an active shooter. When it was all over, Rittenhouse walked away like a "hero in a Western. Without a care in the world for anything he just done," Binger said. Supporters have hailed Kyle Rittenhouse as a hero who took a stand against lawlessness; foes have branded him a vigilante. Earlier Monday, Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed a count of possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18. A misdemeanor that had appeared to be among the likeliest of the charges to net a conviction. It carries up to nine months in jail.

The Defense

The defense argued that Wisconsin law has an exception related to the length of a weapon's barrel. After prosecutors conceded Rittenhouse's rifle was not short-barreled, the judge threw out the charge. Perhaps in recognition of weaknesses in their case, prosecutors asked the judge to let the jury consider several lesser charges if they acquit him on the original counts. Schroeder agreed to do so as he delivered some 36 pages of legal instructions to the jury. In his instructions; the judge said that to accept Rittenhouse's claim of self-defence, the jury must find that he believed there was an unlawful threat to him and that the amount of force he used was reasonable and necessary. With a verdict near, Gov. Tony Evers said that 500 National Guard members would be prepared for duty in Kenosha if requested. Story from ctvnews - Forliti reported from Minneapolis; Webber from Fenton, Michigan. Associated Press writer Scott Bauer contributed from Madison, Wisconsin Read the full article