Kyle Rittenhouse found not guilty on all charges

Judge Bruce Schroeder told the jurors that he "couldn't have asked for a better jury to work with" during the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who killed two people and shot one other.

The jury acquitted Rittenhouse of all charges on Friday, after about a three-week process.

"All of you – I couldn't have asked for a better jury to work with, and it has truly been my pleasure. I think without commenting on your verdict... the verdict themselves, just in terms of your attentiveness and the cooperation that you gave to us justifies the confidence that the founders of our country placed in you," he said.

He also reminded jurors that they are never under any obligation to discuss any aspects of the case. He said some media outlets have requested to talk to members of the jury, and the jurors can decide if they want to accept that invitation.

"You're welcome to do so as little or as much as you want," Schroeder said.

The judge concluded:

Kyle Rittenhouse began to cry as the verdict was read and he learned he had been acquitted on all charges in the Kenosha County Circuit Court. He appeared to collapse into his chair and hugged attorney Corey Chirafisi. 

Before the verdict was read, Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder said, “There can’t be any reaction at all, no matter how strongly you may feel and it’s understood that many people do have strong feelings, but we can’t permit any kind of reaction to the verdict.”

Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager accused of killing two people and shooting another during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer was found not guilty on all charges, and the state prosecution cannot appeal, CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said.

Honig also explained that Wisconsin law's generally favors a defendant claiming self-defense, which he said is important context for this verdict.

Attorney Bob Bianchi, a former Morris County, New Jersey, head prosecutor, said the not guilty verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial "was not surprising" to him.

Rittenhouse was accused of killing two people and shooting another during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer.

"I've investigated homicide cases far, far, far less complex that took weeks and months for us to finish our investigation, and I think that the defense attorneys' statements to the jury that this was a rush to judgment and that the actual prosecution witnesses supported the self-defense claim of Rittenhouse resonated with them," added Bianchi, who is also an anchor at the Law & Crime Network.

The White House declined to weigh in on the verdict in the Kyle Rittenhouse case on Friday, moments after a jury found Rittenhouse not guilty on all counts. 

Asked about the judge’s ruling that the people who were shot by Rittenhouse should not be referred to in court as victims, Psaki again declined to comment. 

“I'm not going to give an assessment of this from here,” she said. “Let us get you a statement as soon as we can.”

Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty of first-degree intentional homicide and four other charges on Friday in connection to the fatal shooting of two people and wounding of another during last year’s unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Rittenhouse took the stand and testified before the jury that he acted in self-defense. He broke down in tears during the testimony as he recounted the shootings during the chaotic night of unrest.

The prosecution sought to show Rittenhouse acted criminally and recklessly.  

The events of that night, almost all captured on video, were hardly in dispute, but the 12-person jury sided with the now 18-year-old teen who said that he was defending himself.

A jury has reached a verdict in the homicide trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who killed two people and shot another during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer. The verdict will be read in court shortly.

The verdict comes after a two-week trial highlighted by Rittenhouse taking the stand and telling the jury he shot the men in self-defense.

"I didn't do anything wrong. I defended myself," he testified.

Rittenhouse, now 18, was charged with five felonies:

Jurors were also able to consider lesser offenses for two of the five counts.

A misdemeanor weapons possession charge and a non-criminal curfew violation were dismissed by Judge Bruce Schroeder prior to deliberations.

The charges stem from the chaotic unrest last year in the wake of the Kenosha Police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man. After instances of rioting and fiery destruction, Rittenhouse, 17 at the time, took a medical kit and an AR-15-style rifle and joined up with a group of other armed people in Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020.

There, Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum – who was chasing the teenager and threw a plastic bag at him – and then tried to flee the area. A crowd of people pursued the teenager, and Rittenhouse shot at a man who tried to kick him; fatally shot Anthony Huber, who had hit him with a skateboard; and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, who was armed with a pistol.

Prosecutors called up to 22 witnesses over the course of six days as they sought to show that Rittenhouse provoked Rosenbaum by pointing the rifle at him. The prosecution portrayed the three other people who confronted the teen as “heroes” trying to stop what they believed to be an active shooting.

However, the defense said Rittenhouse acted in self-defense and feared for his life when he shot at the men.

The jurors in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse started deliberating for a fourth day around 10 a.m. ET. That means they've been in the deliberation room for about two hours today.

The panel of five men and seven women have deliberated for roughly 23 hours over the past three days.

Rittenhouse — the teenager accused of killing two people and shooting another during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer — is charged with five felonies.

The jurors in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse resumed their deliberations on this morning, according to a pool reporter in court.

The panel of five men and seven women have deliberated for roughly 23 hours over the past three days. The court did not specify an exact time jurors resumed their deliberations today.