Grosskreutz MASSIVE ADMISSION confirms Kyle Rittenhouse Self-Defence

Judge Tosses Gun Charge Against Kyle Rittenhouse Before Closing Arguments
Pilar Melendez, The Daily Beast
Mon, November 15, 2021, 8:54 AM

A misdemeanor gun charge against Kyle Rittenhouse was dismissed just hours before jurors were expected to begin deliberating the fate of the teenager accused of murdering two people and trying to kill a third during a police-violence protest last August.

Hours later, prosecutors made a last-ditch attempt to convince jurors he belonged in prison.

During closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger tried to convince jurors that Rittenhouse was a teen gunman with no “legal authority” nor the “honor” to take lives. The defense has argued throughout the trial that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense.

“You cannot claim self-defense against a danger you create. That’s critical right here. If you’re the one who is threatening others, you lose the right to claim self-defense,” Binger argued on Monday.

Rittenhouse, 18, has faced a slew of charges, including first-degree reckless homicide, in relation to the Aug. 25, 2020, shooting amid unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, over the police shooting of Jacob Blake. 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.

“After killing Anthony Huber, after severely wounding Gaige Grosskreutz, the defendant walks away, like he’s some sort of hero in a western, without a care in the world for anything he’s just done,” Binger said Monday.

But just before jurors heard closing arguments in the murder trial, Kenosha Judge Bruce Schroeder accepted a defense motion to dismiss the charge of possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18—the only misdemeanor the teenager was facing. The Rittenhouse defense team has argued to dismiss misdemeanor charges—punishable by up to nine months behind bars—throughout the trial.

In accepting their argument, Schroeder—who has come under withering scrutiny centering on accusations of favoring the defendant—explained the dismissal came because Wisconsin law was poorly written and that the longer barrel size of the firearm Rittenhouse carried that night meant he did not violate the statute.

The prosecution conceded that Rittenhouse’s rifle was not short-barreled, as the law prohibits, leaving Rittenhouse facing five felony charges. They are first-degree reckless homicide, two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, first-degree intentional homicide, and attempted first-degree intentional homicide.

Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahman believes the prosecution’s case is not totally lost despite the last-minute decision to dismiss the gun charge. Rahman told The Daily Beast he was not surprised by the dismissal, noting that the statute was “poorly worded” and that the judge “said he was still researching the law last week.”

“The prosecution was overcharging and not putting evidence in,” Rahman said, noting that Schroeder has also been ruling throughout the trial in favor of the defense.

Indeed, this is the second time Schroeder has accepted a defense motion to dismiss charges against Rittenhouse. Last week, Schroeder dismissed a violating curfew charge—a misdemeanor that the judge ruled the prosecution did not present enough evidence for.

A Rittenhouse attorney also noted on Monday that the defense officially filed a motion for a mistrial with prejudice, a move that would disallow prosecutors from re-trying the case and was brought up in court last week. Schroeder said he would rule on the matter “later,” before bringing in the jury to begin instructing them on the law as to whether Rittenhouse was acting lawfully in self-defense at the time of the shootings.

For Paul Bucher, a former district attorney in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, and a one-time state attorney general candidate, the prosecutorial losses were “not surprising because this case was overcharged.”

“The government lost sight of what they could prove in this case, and now the judge is mending it by dismissing charges,” Bucher said. “During the trial, the government also did not spend enough time proving Rittenhouse’s mindset when he pulled the trigger.”

On Friday, however, Schroeder instructed the jury to consider two lesser charges in relation to Huber’s shooting, which previously produced the most serious charge: first-degree intentional homicide. The judge denied the prosecution’s request for the option of a lesser charge in Rosenbaum’s death.

Schroeder also instructed the jury on Monday to consider two lesser charges—attempted second-degree intentional homicide and first-degree recklessly endangering safety—for the pre-existing attempted first-degree intentional homicide charge related to the shooting of Grosskreutz. During the trial, Grosskreutz testified that the gunshot wound he sustained from Rittenhouse “vaporized” his bicep.

“Now, it seems the prosecution’s saving grace could be the lesser charges that the judge approved of,” Bucher said.

According to the ex-prosecutor, lesser charges are a last-minute way for the prosecution to secure a conviction. In this case, Bucher added, the prosecution asking for a slew of lesser charges proves “they are aware they didn’t argue an iron-clad case.”

Balance of day. Includes a portion of the video in the post above

Final juror selection (the first ten minutes). Balance of this video can be ignored.

Kyle Rittenhouse: Jury to decide fate of US teen gunman

A jury has been sent to deliberate in the case of a teen who shot three men amid civil unrest last year, in one of the most high-profile trials in the US.

Wrapping up, prosecutors said Kyle Rittenhouse walked off like a "hero in a Western" after opening fire on the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Mr Rittenhouse's lawyer said his client feared his own gun would be used on him after a "crazy person" ambushed him.

The 18-year-old killed two men and injured a third on 25 August 2020.

The Rittenhouse case was instantly politically divisive and its result is being closely watched across the nation.

The defendant is white, as are the three men he shot.

But the shooting happened amid sometimes violent protests that followed the police murder of George Floyd, a black man, in Minneapolis, and the case has been held up on the left as raising questions about racial justice and perceived white privilege.

On the right, the cause celebre is seen as an important test case for gun rights and self-defence.

Ahead of a verdict, 500 National Guard troops have been placed on standby in the Midwestern state.

In a statement, Governor Tony Evers urged people to "respect the community by reconsidering any plans to travel there" in response to the verdict.

Two nights before Mr Rittenhouse turned up in Kenosha, riots erupted on its streets after police shot Jacob Blake, a black man. Mr Rittenhouse had travelled to the city from his home in Illinois and, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, he said he sought to help protect property from unrest.

Before sending out the jury on Monday evening, Judge Bruce Schroeder instructed them to focus on the facts and to "disregard the claims or opinions of any other person or news media or social networking site".

"You will pay no heed to the opinions of anyone - even the president of the United States or the president before him," he said.

If Mr Rittenhouse is convicted on the most serious charges, he could face life in prison.

Attorneys for Mr Rittenhouse have said he acted in self-defence, but prosecutors allege he came looking for trouble and behaved like a vigilante.

How did the defence wrap up?

Mark Richards, an attorney for Mr Rittenhouse, accused the state of running "a shoddy investigation" that played "fast and loose with the facts" and used "hocus pocus out-of-focus evidence".

"This case is not a game. It is my client's life," he said. "Kyle was a 17 year old trying to help this community. He reacted to people attacking him."

He added "we can take politics out of it, but the district attorney's office is marching forward with this case because they need somebody to be responsible".

Running through testimony from witnesses, Mr Richards argued "there was nothing reckless" about his client's actions and he had the right to be in Kenosha that night.

Gaige Grosskreutz, the third person shot, had previously testified that he and others thought Mr Rittenhouse was an "active shooter", a term mentioned several times by the prosecution in its closing statement.

But Mr Richards rebuked the label as "a buzzword" with "loaded connotations". He said the crowd attacked Mr Rittenhouse not to disarm or chase him away, but because "they wanted to get their licks in".

He also slammed prosecutors' descriptions of Joseph Rosenbaum - the first person to be shot - as "a mouthy little guy" with more bark than bite, instead asserting that Mr Rosenbaum was a violent rioter and "somebody who wasn't on their proper medication".

Mr Rittenhouse was 17 years old when he fired the fatal shots that killed Mr Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Mr Grosskreutz, 27.

Earlier on Monday, defence attorneys successfully argued that Wisconsin law could be interpreted to allow him to possess the firearm despite being under the age of 18. Judge Schroeder agreed to drop the weapons charge prior to closing arguments.

How did the prosecution wrap up?

Lead prosecutor Thomas Binger told the court on Monday in his closing statement: "You cannot claim self-defence against a danger that you create."

Mr Binger - the assistant district attorney for Kenosha - questioned why Mr Rittenhouse broke curfew in a city he did not live in and "pretended to guard" people and property he was not familiar with.

"Consider whether or not it's reasonable for a criminal to be able to shoot himself out of a crime scene," he said. "If someone comes up to that person and tries to disarm them, do they forfeit their life?"

"He ran around with an AR-15 all night and lied about being an EMT [emergency responder]. Does that suggest to you that he is genuinely there to help?" asked the prosecutor.

Mr Rittenhouse had worked as a first responder cadet prior to the shootings. He testified last week that he provided medical aid to people that day.

Jurors were shown video, sometimes frame by frame, leading up to and after each shooting.

Mr Binger assailed the teen for showing "no regard for human life" and then fleeing the scene "like he was some sort of hero in a Western".

Kyle Rittenhouse: Jury to decide fate of US teen gunman

A jury has been sent to deliberate in the case of a teen who shot three men amid civil unrest last year, in one of the most high-profile trials in the US.

Wrapping up, prosecutors said Kyle Rittenhouse walked off like a "hero in a Western" after opening fire on the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Mr Rittenhouse's lawyer said his client feared his own gun would be used on him after a "crazy person" ambushed him.

The 18-year-old killed two men and injured a third on 25 August 2020.

The Rittenhouse case was instantly politically divisive and its result is being closely watched across the nation.

The defendant is white, as are the three men he shot.

But the shooting happened amid sometimes violent protests that followed the police murder of George Floyd, a black man, in Minneapolis, and the case has been held up on the left as raising questions about racial justice and perceived white privilege.

On the right, the cause celebre is seen as an important test case for gun rights and self-defence.

Ahead of a verdict, 500 National Guard troops have been placed on standby in the Midwestern state.

In a statement, Governor Tony Evers urged people to "respect the community by reconsidering any plans to travel there" in response to the verdict.

Two nights before Mr Rittenhouse turned up in Kenosha, riots erupted on its streets after police shot Jacob Blake, a black man. Mr Rittenhouse had travelled to the city from his home in Illinois and, armed with a semi-automatic rifle, he said he sought to help protect property from unrest.

Before sending out the jury on Monday evening, Judge Bruce Schroeder instructed them to focus on the facts and to "disregard the claims or opinions of any other person or news media or social networking site".

"You will pay no heed to the opinions of anyone - even the president of the United States or the president before him," he said.

If Mr Rittenhouse is convicted on the most serious charges, he could face life in prison.

Attorneys for Mr Rittenhouse have said he acted in self-defence, but prosecutors allege he came looking for trouble and behaved like a vigilante.

How did the defence wrap up?

Mark Richards, an attorney for Mr Rittenhouse, accused the state of running "a shoddy investigation" that played "fast and loose with the facts" and used "hocus pocus out-of-focus evidence".

"This case is not a game. It is my client's life," he said. "Kyle was a 17 year old trying to help this community. He reacted to people attacking him."

He added "we can take politics out of it, but the district attorney's office is marching forward with this case because they need somebody to be responsible".

Running through testimony from witnesses, Mr Richards argued "there was nothing reckless" about his client's actions and he had the right to be in Kenosha that night.

Gaige Grosskreutz, the third person shot, had previously testified that he and others thought Mr Rittenhouse was an "active shooter", a term mentioned several times by the prosecution in its closing statement.

But Mr Richards rebuked the label as "a buzzword" with "loaded connotations". He said the crowd attacked Mr Rittenhouse not to disarm or chase him away, but because "they wanted to get their licks in".

He also slammed prosecutors' descriptions of Joseph Rosenbaum - the first person to be shot - as "a mouthy little guy" with more bark than bite, instead asserting that Mr Rosenbaum was a violent rioter and "somebody who wasn't on their proper medication".

Mr Rittenhouse was 17 years old when he fired the fatal shots that killed Mr Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Mr Grosskreutz, 27.

Earlier on Monday, defence attorneys successfully argued that Wisconsin law could be interpreted to allow him to possess the firearm despite being under the age of 18. Judge Schroeder agreed to drop the weapons charge prior to closing arguments.

How did the prosecution wrap up?

Lead prosecutor Thomas Binger told the court on Monday in his closing statement: "You cannot claim self-defence against a danger that you create."

Mr Binger - the assistant district attorney for Kenosha - questioned why Mr Rittenhouse broke curfew in a city he did not live in and "pretended to guard" people and property he was not familiar with.

"Consider whether or not it's reasonable for a criminal to be able to shoot himself out of a crime scene," he said. "If someone comes up to that person and tries to disarm them, do they forfeit their life?"

"He ran around with an AR-15 all night and lied about being an EMT [emergency responder]. Does that suggest to you that he is genuinely there to help?" asked the prosecutor.

Mr Rittenhouse had worked as a first responder cadet prior to the shootings. He testified last week that he provided medical aid to people that day.

Jurors were shown video, sometimes frame by frame, leading up to and after each shooting.

Mr Binger assailed the teen for showing "no regard for human life" and then fleeing the scene "like he was some sort of hero in a Western".

Rifle-toting demonstrator shows up outside courthouse where jurors are deliberating Kyle Rittenhouse's fate, as hundreds of National Guard troops stand by for a verdict
Jake Epstein
Wed, November 17, 2021, 12:55 PM

A rifle-toting demonstrator showed up outside the Kenosha County courthouse on Wednesday where jurors are deliberating in Kyle Rittenhouse's homicide trial as law enforcement organizations brace for a verdict.

The demonstrator was alone and carrying a megaphone, though it's unclear what he was saying, Kenosha County Sheriff's Department spokesman Sergeant David Wright told Insider.

In a video tweeted by Fox News, Kenosha County Sheriff's Department officers could be seen asking the man for identification and a permit to carry the weapon.

The man told officers that he did not have a valid permit, and the officers said he needed to have one in order to carry the gun within 1,000 feet of a school.

He was then asked by officers to voluntarily put his gun away — which he did, Wright told Insider.

No other action was taken at the time, Wright said.

Meanwhile, around 500 National Guard troops were activated by Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Friday ahead of a verdict in Rittenhouse's case.

"We continue to be in close contact with our partners at the local level to ensure the state provides support and resources to help keep the Kenosha community and greater area safe," Evers said in a statement.

Jury deliberations in Rittenhouse's homicide trial began on Tuesday.

Protesters outside the courthouse have been demonstrating both for and against Rittenhouse, including Mark and Patricia McCloskey — the St. Louis couple who pointed their guns at Black Lives Matter marchers in June 2020.

Businesses have not been boarded up and there's no fencing around the courthouse, local news station ABC7 reported on Monday.

Rittenhouse, 18, is charged with fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber — and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz — during a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, following the police shooting of Jacob Blake in August 2020.

He pleaded not guilty to all the charges he faced and has said he acted in self-defense.

Judge bars MSNBC from courthouse.

End of day (poor sound quality)

Jury finds Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all counts

Rittenhouses' reaction

Rittenhouses' reaction

A left rag's article. ...."notorious, gun-toting white teenager.....
__________________________

Kyle Rittenhouse Acquitted in Bombshell End to Vigilante Murder Trial
Pilar Melendez, Dan Simmons, The Daily Beast
Fri, November 19, 2021, 11:15 AM

KENOSHA—Kyle Rittenhouse, the notorious, gun-toting white teenager accused of murdering two people and trying to kill a third during a police-violence protest last August, has been found not guilty of all the charges against him in a Wisconsin courtroom.

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.

As 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.

“The jury has represented our community in this trial and has spoken,” Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger told reporters after the verdict.

The verdict, which was reached in 24 hours, marks the end of one chapter of a highly-divisive case that prompted conservatives to rally behind the teen—and the latest episode in a saga that’s served as a testament to the ever-more-bitter divides over gun rights and race in America.

It also raised the prospect of a new wave of unrest in Wisconsin and across the country.

“There is a significant risk that there is going to be unrest regardless of the outcome. Simply because the case is so politicized and whichever side prevails, the folks who support the other side are going to feel a grave injustice has occurred,” Keith A. Findley, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin, told The Daily Beast ahead of the verdict.

“To people on the left and Black Live Matter members, an acquittal is just another expression of how the system coddles and protects white defendants,” Findley added.

Kenosha residents immediately expressed their outrage over the verdict.

“Oh my god! I knew it!” Charisse Henderson, 44, told The Daily Beast. “Between the judge and how this clown show played out … the judge was all for Kyle. It doesn’t make sense. My heart just goes out to the victims of this situation. That judge didn’t care about the victims or the parents. It was in plain sight, for the whole world to see. Was he Kyle’s grandfather or something?”

Henderson said the Black community feels silenced again, after the police officer who shot Jacob Blake seven times also was not held accountable.

“I am very much worried about what’s going to happen (today) in Kenosha,” she said. “It’s another slap in the face. I just hope that … just don’t burn down anything. We’ve got few enough places still standing in Kenosha.”

Throughout proceedings plagued with threats of a mistrial and several contentious arguments between Schroeder and prosecutors, the state argued Rittenhouse was a “teenage vigilante” who traveled from Illinois to Wisconsin with an AR-15 to meet other armed people who styled themselves guardians of local business.

But throughout the trial, the prosecution made a series of decisions, ranging from who they put on the stand to what charges they chose to hit Rittenhouse with, that legal experts told The Daily Beast may have only bolstered the defense. And while there was a bevy of video evidence to prove Rittenhouse’s role in the shootings, prosecutors failed to provide any new damning material in the trial that would blow the self-defense claim out of the water.

“This case was always going to be an uphill battle for the prosecution,” John Gross, a clinical associate professor and the director of the Public Defender Project at the University of Wisconsin-Madison Law School, told The Daily Beast last week. “But in a case of this magnitude, the prosecution should have been over-prepared and they were not. They did not look deeply enough at what the defense was going to say, or even what the judge had previously ruled.”

Yearning for a conviction was stoked in the public imagination—if not in the courtroom—by the revelation that Rittenhouse appeared after his arrest with members of at least one extremist group, and enjoyed plenty of far-right fundraising and other support online. As The Daily Beast previously reported, Rittenhouse’s social-media accounts at the time of the shooting were also rife with support for pro-police causes, and he displayed a fervent affinity for guns. Buzzfeed News further reported that Rittenhouse posted a TikTok video from a Jan. 2020 Donald Trump rally in Des Moines, Iowa—where he sat in the first row.

The defense team, however, insisted that the shootings were justified because they were done out of self-defense. To argue self-defense in Wisconsin, Rittenhouse’s attorneys were trying to show that the then-17-year-old had no choice but to use deadly force “to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself.”

During the already-chaotic protest over the Blake’s shooting last August, a video played in court showed Rittenhouse, then 17, shooting Rosenbaum after the unarmed man tossed a plastic bag his way. As Rittenhouse ran away from the scene, still holding his AR-15, the teen is seen in another video running down the street with several protesters in tow.

Testifying on his own behalf, Rittenhouse insisted to the jury that Rosenbaum threatened to kill him twice—including one instance when the deceased man was armed with a chain while yelling: “If I catch any of you fuckers alone, I’m going to kill you.”

When pressed by prosecutors during cross-examination about why he felt the need to shoot the unarmed Rosenbaum, Rittenhouse insisted that he “didn’t want to have to shoot him” but if he had let his weapon go, Rosenbaum “would have used it to kill me and probably more people.”

Dr. Doug Kelley, a forensic pathologist with the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s office, previously testified that Rittenhouse ultimately shot Rosenbaum four times. That included twice in the front, once in the back, and once alongside his head.

But a prosecution witness, Rosenbaum’s fiancée, Kariann Swart, may have sowed doubt into the circumstances the fatal interaction. On the stand, she disclosed that Rosenbaum was on medication for bipolar disorder and depression—and could not fill up his prescriptions from a local pharmacy that was boarded up due to the days-long unrest.

After the shooting, Rittenhouse said he tried to run away from the group of protesters, which included Huber. Video played in court showed Huber hitting Rittenhouse in the head with his skateboard and reaching for the teenager’s gun after Rittenhouse stumbled to the ground.

Rittenhouse is then seen on video shooting Huber in the chest before Grosskreutz steps toward the teenager. Prosecutors stated that Rittenhouse then fired a second shot that hit Grosskreutz’s arm, before he got up from the ground and fled the scene. Kelley, the medical examiner, noted in his testimony Huber was killed with a single gunshot to his chest that also caused major trauma to his heart and lungs.

Grosskreutz, who also testified for the prosecution, told jurors that the gunshot wound he sustained from Rittenhouse “vaporized” his bicep.

“I thought the defendant was an active shooter,” Grosskreutz said, adding that at one point during the altercation he thought “that I was going to die.”

But Grosskreutz’s account of the shooting may also have muddied the waters after he admitted on the stand that he was armed that night—and that he initially falsely told investigators his pistol had fallen out of its holster.

While Grosskreutz was supposed to be the prosecution’s star witness, Gross previously told The Daily Beast, he ended up “describing a self-defense theory for Rittenhouse.

10 heinous lies about Kyle Rittenhouse debunked


https://nypost.com/2021/11/17/10-debunked-heinous-lies-about-kyle-rittenhouse-devine/


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Biden Says He ‘Stands By’ Rittenhouse Jury’s Verdict, Later Adds That He’s ‘Angry And Concerned’
Covering all the bases ...

Biden later released a statement saying he was “angry and concerned” by the verdict, however.

“While the verdict in Kenosha will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included, we must acknowledge that the jury has spoken,” he said in an official statement. “I urge everyone to express their views peacefully, consistent with the rule of law. Violence and destruction of property have no place in our democracy.”

https://dailycaller.com/2021/11/19/biden-rittenhouse-verdict-trial-kenosha/

Angry and concerned about..?? ..Prolly angry that the states case sucked ass and they failed to make the kid an example of white supremacy and racism ..angry that it all backfired on them

Maybe angry and concerned that Rittenhouse is angry and concerned about being slandered. . The media should be concerned ..Look what happened with the Covington kid .. The lies the media spread about him made him a millionaire

Still blaming Trump for shit i see ..
I guess I'll hafta look into what happened with the Blake situation that supposedly started the rioting .. All this seems kinda 'by proxy' to that .. I'm just assuming it was a black victim, white perpetrator ...maybe a cop .. I dont know ...which is why i dont get all the white supremacy blather, while everyone involved was white
I'm sure there have been cases of black people aquitted for self defense without the rioting .. The white supremacy shit might make sense if the kid killed two black guys and was acquitted .. Why don't they just keep rioting over the Blake thing? The Rittenhouse case hasn't changed or negated whatever happened in the Blake case. White guy shoots white guys and his acquittal is somehow white supremacy