Kyle Rittenhouse found not guilty on all charges

The great aunt of Anthony Huber, one of the men who was fatally shot by Kyle Rittenhouse during the civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer, defended her nephew’s actions prior to his death.

“I’m firmly in the camp that he perceived an active shooter and he went to disarm that person,” Susan Hughes said. “That is the Anthony I knew. He was very much a person who would jump into action.”

According to a criminal complaint, Huber reached for Rittenhouse’s gun with his hand while holding the skateboard in the other.

“There were a couple of other people who did the same thing,” Hughes said. “Nobody was successful. He lost his life. I was asked the other day by one of the media people if I thought Anthony would do the same thing again. And I think he would.”

Some context: Rittenhouse was acquitted Friday of first-degree intentional homicide and four other felony charges.

Kyle Rittenhouse attorney Mark Richards told CNN that “Kyle said, if I had to do it all over again … I wouldn’t do it.”

When asked if Rittenhouse wished he had not gone out that night and if he thinks he did anything wrong, Richards said, “Kyle said, if I had to do it all over again and had any idea something like this could happen, I wouldn’t do it.”

“I want to be clear. That is not regret for what he did that night under those circumstances,” he added.

“Does he think he did anything wrong?” CNN asked.
“Legally, no,” Richards replied.

As for morally, he said, “He wishes he didn’t have to do it.” 

After Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted Friday of first-degree intentional homicide and four other felony charges, he said that he believed the jury reached the correct verdict.

“The jury reached the correct verdict. Self Defense is not illegal. I believe they came to the correct verdict and I’m glad that everything went well,” Rittenhouse said in promotional trailer for a Tucker Carlson program.

Rittenhouse was riding in the back of a vehicle and appeared to be wearing the same outfit he had on when the verdict was read.

“It’s been a rough journey, but we made it through it. We made it to the hard part,” he said.

Mark Richards, an attorney for Kyle Rittenhouse, said Friday that he did not approve the Fox film crew that was embedded with the defense team during the trial.

“I threw them out of the room several times,” Richards told CNN. “I don’t think a film crew is appropriate for something like this.”

“But the people who were raising the money to pay for the experts and to pay for the attorneys were trying to raise money,” Richards added. “I don’t want to say an evil, but a definite distraction was part of it. And I didn’t approve of it. But I’m not always the boss.”

Some context: Washington Post media reporter Jeremy Barr tweeted a clip of what appears to be a special produced by Fox’s “Tucker Carson Originals.”

Lee Merritt, an attorney for Ahmaud Arbery’s mother, Wanda Cooper-Jones, told CNN Friday that the not guilty verdict handed down in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who killed two people and shot another during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was “deeply troubling” and “very scary” for Arbery’s family as closing statements are expected Monday in the trial of three white men charged in Arbery’s killing.

“It is so similar. the Kyle Rittenhouse case was a case about vigilantism. this case is a case about vigilantism, and I’m hoping that the jury doesn’t take the same course as the Rittenhouse jury,” Merritt said.

Rittenhouse was acquitted Friday of first-degree intentional homicide and four other felony charges.

Merritt said the US justice system historically doesn’t work well when the assailants are white.

“There’s a long history of racism that exists within our courts. It’s a reality,” Merritt said, “It’s a statistical reality that we see playing itself out.”

Some context: Attorneys in the Arbery murder trial are expected to begin closing arguments Monday after 10 days of court proceedings and testimony from more than 20 witnesses and investigators.

The defense rested its case Thursday, and lawyers and the judge were working in court Friday on what instructions to give to the jury.

Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who killed two people and shot another during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was acquitted Friday of first-degree intentional homicide and four other felony charges.

Jury verdict sheets from the trial appear to give some insight into the jury’s process of deliberation.

The sheets were filed with the Kenosha County Clerk of the Circuit Court. They show that the presiding juror in the case signed only two of the five “not guilty” verdicts today. The other three “not guilty” verdict sheets were dated Wednesday and Thursday.  

Juror 54, the presiding juror in the case, signed the “not guilty” verdict sheets for counts 1 and 2 today. Rittenhouse faced a charge of first-degree reckless homicide for fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum in count 1. Count 2 stated that Rittenhouse recklessly endangered the safety of Richard McGinnis, who was near Rittenhouse during the first shooting.

The presiding juror in the case, signed the “not guilty” verdict sheet for count 5, on Thursday. Rittenhouse was charged in count 5 with attempted first-degree intentional homicide for shooting Gaige Grosskreutz. 

Juror 54 signed the “not guilty” verdict sheets for counts 3 and 4 on Wednesday. Count 4, the most severe charge Rittenhouse faced, was first-degree intentional homicide for the fatal shooting of Anthony Huber. Rittenhouse was charged in count 3 with first-degree recklessly endangering the safety of an unknown man.

The 12-person jury deliberated for more than 25 hours over the course of four days. 

Following the verdict in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, Justin Blake, the uncle of Jacob Blake, said, “What was done today was heinous.”

Rittenhouse, the teenager who killed two people and shot another during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was acquitted Friday of first-degree intentional homicide and four other felony charges.

Blake also discussed his nephew’s case, saying he demands the case be reopened. 

Remember: A White officer shot Blake, a 29-year-old Black man, seven times while responding to a domestic incident on Aug. 23, 2020. Blake survived the shooting but was left paralyzed from the waist down.

His shooting sparked unrest in Kenosha.

Kyle Rittenhouse’s acquittal on all five counts sets a “dangerous precedent” that may embolden others, warned Jacob Blake’s family attorney B’Ivory LaMarr, responding to the verdict today.

“I think this is a very, very dangerous precedent that has been set,” said LaMarr when asked by CNN if he believed the verdict would embolden others to follow Rittenhouse’s example.

LaMarr pointed to the shooting of Blake last summer, for which the White officer who shot him seven times in the back was never charged, saying the judicial system treats Black and White Americans differently.

“It’s important that we have clear standards in being able to hold individuals accountable for engaging and provoking situations,” he said. “I think that you don’t see the same thing occur when it’s African-Americans.”

“I mean, hey, I hate to make this about race. But it is about race,” he added.

The fiancée of Joseph Rosenbaum, one of the men fatally shot by Kyle Rittenhouse, said, “I feel like in this case, the victims’ lives don’t matter.”

“If one person’s life or two persons’ lives don’t matter, then none of our lives matter,” Kariann Swart said while speaking to reporters following the verdict in the Rittenhouse trial. “And I feel like in this case, it feels like, the victims’ lives don’t matter. And I don’t think that that is acceptable.”

Anthony Huber’s girlfriend, Hannah Gittings, called the system “a failure” in remarks she made to the press following Kyle Rittenhouse’s acquittal on all charges.

Huber was one of the men fatally shot by Rittenhouse.

“I don’t think that any of us who were directly involved in what happened last year on the 25th are really that surprised. We know that this system is a failure,” she said. “Personally, I am especially not surprised at the outcome of this verdict.”

Some context: Huber, who was in the crowd of protesters with his girlfriend, was killed as Rittenhouse fled the scene of Joseph Rosenbaum’s shooting, according to the complaint.

Huber had turned 26 just four days earlier, according to an obituary.

Kyle Rittenhouse’s family spokesperson told CNN affiliate WBBM that the verdict in the trial was “expected,” adding that Rittenhouse and his family are in an undisclosed location. 

“I say that was expected because we know who Kyle is, and we know what was in his heart and what was in his head, and we know the facts of this case. But, of course everybody was really anxious because at the end of the day, you just, you ultimately don’t know what a jury is thinking,” spokesperson David Hancock said.

Hancock also said he believed that “the jury was thoughtful and they understood the gravity of this decision.” 

“Now, the goal is going to be to ensure Kyle’s safety as he moves on as a 18-year-old young man in college studying to be a nurse,” Hancock said. “Those are his plans moving forward.”

As for the Rittenhouse family, Hancock said, “They are doing well right now. they’re in an undisclosed location and they are, they are a family and everybody is just ecstatic.”

Asked about the call for protests following today’s verdict, Hancock said, “The family calls for calm. Calls for calm. I mean, this was not an injustice.”

“What I would say is, this is an inflection point, I think, for the country to look at the way things have been handled. Things have gone off the rails in relation to who Kyle is and why he was down here. It’s never been about politics. It’s not about race. This is about a young man who fled and felt as if his life was in danger and defended himself,” he added. 

Kimberley Motley and Milo Schwab, attorneys for Gaige Grosskreutz and the estate of Joseph Rosenbaum, asked for “peace from everyone hurting” following the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse.

Rosenbaum was killed and Grosskreutz was injured in the August 2020 shooting.

“Today we grieve for the families of those slain by Kyle Rittenhouse,” Motley and Schwab said in a statement.

Here’s the full statement: 

“Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum did not deserve to die that night. For now, we ask for peace from everyone hurting and that the public respect the privacy of the victims and their families. That night in Kenosha, Gaige Grosskreutz, Anthony Huber, and many others acted heroically. They did not seek violence, but to end violence. What we need right now is justice, not more violence. While today’s verdict may mean justice delayed, it will not mean justice denied. We are committed to uncovering the truth of that night and holding those responsible to account.”

Mark Richards, an attorney on Kyle Rittenhouse’s defense team, dismissed criticism over Judge Bruce Schroeder’s courtroom style, saying he believed the judge delivered a fair trial.

“I’ve never seen so much made of so little,” he said of criticism of Schroeder’s sometimes abrasive manner.

“Judge Schroeder gives you a fair trial as a defendant,” he said. “You don’t want him to sentence your client. But in this case, we were looking for a fair trial and if we lost we knew what was going to happen… so I would rather have a fair trial.”

During the trial, Schroeder, who has a reputation as a tough jurist, had some heated exchanges with prosecutor Thomas Binger for his line of questioning as Rittenhouse testified.

Richards said that he had confidence in his self-defense case and believed that Schroeder had created an environment where his client could receive justice.

“I thought he gave us a fair trial,” he added. “…So I think it’s a good system. You know, I’ve got a trial in front of him, you know, a big case, and maybe in that one, I’ll think he’s unfair, but he’s a fair judge.”

Rittenhouse was acquitted on all five counts against him earlier today.

Following the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse on all charges, Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger, the lead prosecutor in this case, said in a statement that “while we are disappointed with the verdict, it must be respected.”

“We are grateful to the members of the jury for their diligent and thoughtful deliberations. The Kenosha community has endured much over the past 15 months, and yet we remain resilient and strong. We ask that members of our community continue to express their opinions and feelings about this verdict in a civil and peaceful manner,” Binger continued.

President Biden said he did not watch the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, but he stands by the verdict and the judicial system.

He made the comments upon returning to the White House after his routine physical exam at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.

“I just heard a moment ago,” Biden said, when asked about Rittenhouse being found not guilty on all counts. “I didn’t watch the trial.” 

Asked if he stood by his past comments equating Rittenhouse to a white supremacist, Biden didn’t directly answer. 

In a statement released by the White House later Friday afternoon, Biden acknowledged that the verdict “will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included,” adding that everyone “must acknowledge that the jury has spoken.” 

Biden said he “ran on a promise to bring Americans together, because I believe that what unites us is far greater than what divides us.”

“I know that we’re not going to heal our country’s wounds overnight, but I remain steadfast in my commitment to do everything in my power to ensure that every American is treated equally, with fairness and dignity, under the law,” the statement reads. 

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial has “reopened wounds that have not yet fully healed” and called for peace in Kenosha following the teen’s acquittal. 

“No verdict will be able to bring back the lives of Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum, or heal Gaige Grosskreutz’s injuries, just as no verdict can heal the wounds or trauma experienced by Jacob Blake and his family. No ruling today changes our reality in Wisconsin that we have work to do toward equity, accountability, and justice that communities across our state are demanding and deserve,” Evers said in a statement. 

Evers urged Wisconsinites to move forward and said “any efforts or actions aimed at sowing division are unwelcome in our state as they will only hinder that healing.”

Mark Richards, Kyle Rittenhouse’s defense attorney, said his client is eager to get on with his life and is feeling a great sense of relief following his acquittal on all five counts against him today.

“He wants to get on with his life,” said Richards, speaking at a news conference outside the courthouse. “He has a huge sense of relief for what the jury did to him today. He wishes none of this would have ever happened.”

Richards said Rittenhouse has had 24-hour security and does not anticipate that he will continue to live in the area.

“I think eventually some anonymity will come back to it,” he said, adding Rittenhouse has ambitions to become a nurse.

Richards reiterated the defense’s argument that Rittenhouse was not responsible for the violence that occurred that night in Kenosha.

“As he said when he testified, he did not start this and we’re thankful, in more ways than one, that the jury finally got to hear the true story,” he said.

Mark Richards, one of the defense attorneys for Kyle Rittenhouse, said it “wasn’t a close call” to put him on the stand.

“Had to put on him. It wasn’t a close call,” Richards said in an exchange with reporters after the verdict was read on Friday.

“At certain points we wondered whether we would put him on. We had a mock jury and we did two different jurors, one with him testifying and one without him testifying and it was substantially better when he testified,” he added.

Laura Coates, CNN senior legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, said she was not surprised the jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse on all charges because of the jury instructions and the execution of the prosecution’s argument.

The prosecutors were trying to make a case about an active shooter, arguing that everyone else who responded to Rittenhouse’s actions that night were actually the one’s acting in self-defense. Coates said, in the end, it wasn’t compelling.

“That proved unpersuasive it seems to this particular jury for two reasons. One, Wisconsin is a place that has a gun culture that’s not synonymous with criminal activity. The idea of saying you want to alienate a gun owner would not have been persuasive enough. The idea of saying, hey, they were acting in self-defense might have been compelling, except for the jury instruction,” Coates explained.

She said the jury instruction said jurors had to look at the case through the eyes of then 17-year-old Rittenhouse, not in hindsight. The jurors had to access the reasonableness of Rittenhouse’s actions and decide whether it was his belief that he had to use self-defense.

“When you saw him take the stand and explain why he himself thought he was in lethal danger at that point, that probably was the one that tipped the needle,” Coates said.

“He believed that it was reasonable to do so and now the burden went back to the prosecution where it always should stay to say, hey, we have proven that he was not reasonable in his belief, that he was in a kill or be killed scenario,” she added.

Wisconsin law requires that when a self-defense claim is raised, prosecutors must disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt, not the other way around as it is in other jurisdictions, Coates explained.

In order for the prosecution to successfully make its active shooter argument, attorneys would have had to present evidence that disproves Wisconsin’s self-defense threshold, according to Coates.

“Of course, the two people who were killed might have been in a position to do so, but they couldn’t testify, they were dead,” she said, adding that the third person who was shot, Gaige Grosskreutz testified that Rittenhouse fired when Grosskreutz aimed his gun at him.

As the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict was read Friday afternoon, “some jurors looked fatigued in the jury box,” according to a pool reporter in court.  

“The jury forewoman, in a jean jacket and wearing a face mask, handed the verdicts to a court official, who passed them to the judge for review,” the reporter said.

“Some with their hands on their chins or rubbing their eyes. Others appeared ill-at-ease, shifting in their chairs or folding their arms across their chests,” the reporter added. 

Rittenhouse, the teenager accused of killing two people and shooting another during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer was found not guilty on all five charges against him. 

Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager accused of killing two people and shooting another during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer has been found not guilty on all charges. 

The jury of five men and seven women deliberated more than 25 hours over the past four days in a closely watched case.

If convicted on the most serious charge, Rittenhouse would have faced a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

These are the charges he was acquitted of:

Count 1: First-degree reckless homicide, use of a dangerous weapon

Count 1 states Rittenhouse recklessly caused the death of 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum under circumstances that showed utter disregard for human life.

Wisconsin law allows the use of deadly force only if “necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.”

Count 2: First-degree recklessly endangering safety, use of a dangerous weapon

Count 2 states Rittenhouse recklessly endangered the safety of Richard McGinniss — a journalist with the conservative Daily Caller — under circumstances that show utter disregard for human life.

Count 3: First-degree recklessly endangering safety, use of a dangerous weapon

Count 3 states Rittenhouse recklessly endangered the safety of an unknown male, referred to as “jump kick man” in court, under circumstances that show utter disregard for human life.

The man jumped at Rittenhouse at one point, trying to kick him and the teen opened fire. “I thought if I were to be knocked out, he would have stomped my face in if I didn’t fire,” he said. Rittenhouse fired at the man twice and missed.

Count 4: First-degree intentional homicide, use of a dangerous weapon

Count 4 states Rittenhouse caused the death of 26-year-old Anthony Huber, with intent to kill him. It’s the most serious charge he faced, with a mandatory life sentence. Huber swung his skateboard at Rittenhouse after Rosenbaum was fatally shot.

Prosecutors asked that the jury also be instructed on second-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide and second-degree reckless homicide.

Defense attorneys objected to second-degree reckless homicide. The judge said he “embraced” the defense’s argument. But he would likely allow lesser charges of second-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless homicide.

Count 5: Attempted first-degree intentional homicide, use of a weapon

Count 5 states Rittenhouse attempted to cause the death of 27-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz, with intent to kill him.

After shooting Huber, Rittenhouse testified, he saw Grosskreutz lunge at him and point a pistol at his head. Rittenhouse shot him, he testified. Grosskreutz was wounded.

Grosskreutz testified he pulled out his own firearm because he believed Rittenhouse was an active shooter.

Prosecutors asked for lesser charges of attempted second-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree reckless endangerment. Schroeder said he was inclined to agree with the prosecution.

Rittenhouse, wearing a dark jacket with a burgundy tie and shirt, stood behind the defense table as each not guilty verdict was read. He tried to hold back tears, then sobbed and appeared to collapse forward on the table, where he was held by one of his lawyers.

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

Read more about how the trial unfolded here.

The family of Anthony Huber, one of the men who was fatally shot by Kyle Rittenhouse during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer, said in a statement that “there is no accountability for the person who murdered our son,” following the acquittal of Rittenhouse.

Here’s their full statement:

“We are heartbroken and angry that Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted in his criminal trial for the murder of our son Anthony Huber. There was no justice today for Anthony, or for Mr. Rittenhouse’s other victims, Joseph Rosenbaum and Gaige Grosskreutz. 
We did not attend the trial because we could not bear to sit in a courtroom and repeatedly watch videos of our son’s murder, and because we have been subjected to many hurtful and nasty comments in the past year. But we watched the trial closely, hoping it would bring us closure. 
That did not happen. Today’s verdict means there is no accountability for the person who murdered our son. It sends the unacceptable message that armed civilians can show up in any town, incite violence, and then use the danger they have created to justify shooting people in the street. We hope that decent people will join us in forcefully rejecting that message and demanding more of our laws, our officials, and our justice system. 
Make no mistake: our fight to hold those responsible for Anthony’s death accountable continues in full force. Neither Mr. Rittenhouse nor the Kenosha police who authorized his bloody rampage will escape justice. Anthony will have his day in court.
No reasonable person viewing all of the evidence could conclude that Mr. Rittenhouse acted in self-defense. In response to racist and violent calls to action from militia members, Mr. Rittenhouse travelled to Kenosha illegally armed with an assault rifle. He menaced fellow citizens in the street. Though he was in open violation of a curfew order, Kenosha police encouraged him to act violently. Kenosha police told militia members that they would push peaceful protestors toward the militia so that the militia could “deal with them.” Soon after, Mr. Rittenhouse killed Joseph Rosenbaum. The police did nothing. Concerned citizens, confronted with a person shooting indiscriminately on the street, stepped in to stop the violence. Anthony was shot in the chest trying to disarm Mr. Rittenhouse and stop his shooting spree. Still, the police did nothing. Mr. Rittenhouse continued to shoot, maiming Gaige Grosskreutz. The police let Mr. Rittenhouse leave the scene freely. Mr. Rittenhouse came to Kenosha armed to kill. Kenosha police encouraged him to act violently, and our son is dead as a result.
We are so proud of Anthony, and we love him so much. He is a hero who sacrificed his own life to protect other innocent civilians. We ask that you remember Anthony and keep him in your prayers.
-Karen Bloom & John Huber” 

The jury in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse deliberated for more than 25 hours over the past four days.

The panel of five men and seven women ultimately found Rittenhouse not guilty on all charges.

The jury asked the court a handful of questions, including a request on Tuesday to get copies of the jury instructions.

On Wednesday, the jury asked to review videos, including FBI surveillance video and drone video of the shooting of Joseph Rosenbaum, defense attorney Mark Richards told a courtroom pool reporter. In addition, jurors asked to see livestream video by Gaige Grosskreutz in which he spoke with Rittenhouse and another video showing Rittenhouse fall to the ground and shoot at three people.

Judge Bruce Schroeder also allowed a juror to take the jury instructions home.

After the verdict was read, Schroeder told the jurors that he “couldn’t have asked for a better jury to work with” during the trial.

Crowds and protesters outside the courthouse are reacting to the news of Kyle Rittenhouse being found not guilty on all charges.

“We want the nation to know the nation that you live in now isn’t the … United States that we used to live in,” said Justin Blake, uncle of Jacob Blake who was shot by police last summer, sparking the very protests where Rittenhouse was accused of killing two people and shooting another.

Blake slammed local officials for their role the night of the unrest that led to the deaths of two people. 

“To see these young men lose their lives, to see their family have to go through worse than we went through, to see the weakness and the underbelly of this country and how the racism runs from the courtroom to the police station to the mayor’s office. They all have blood on their hands for the mishandling of that whole entire night,” Blake said.

“These people will never come back to their family,” he added.

Blake called Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum heroes because they died while supporting protests held for his nephew.

The victims “were White but they were out here supporting my nephew who was Black … they were out here supporting some just cause and died in the process, so they are heroes,” Blake said, growing emotional. “They could have been at home and missed all of this.”

CNN’s Adrienne Broaddus and Carma Hassan contributed to this report.

As the final “not guilty” verdict was read in court this afternoon, Kyle Rittenhouse’s mother gasped, CNN’s Senior National Correspondent Sara Sidner said, who was in the courtroom.

“I looked over to the family of Kyle Rittenhouse and at the very last one [of his “not guilty” verdicts] his mother gasped, it sounded like one of those relief gasps… her head fell into her hands and she appeared to be crying,” Sidner said.

Rittenhouse, the teenager accused of killing two people and shooting another during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer was found not guilty by a jury on all five charges against him.

“The verdict, obviously ‘not guilty’ for her son means he is a free man at 18-years old after being charged in a double homicide case with five different charges and, of course, the prosecution cannot retry this case,” added Sidner. “That would be double jeopardy. It means he can go about his life.”

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.

“The law in Wisconsin is very favorable to a defendant claiming self-defense. The prosecution has to affirmatively disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. If the jury went back there and had some reasonable doubt, then they were to return a not guilty verdict, and that it appears is what they have done,” Honig said.

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.

“It was a very, in my opinion, strong self-defense case, especially given the fact that he was being chased, that he had rocks thrown at him, gunshots going off, he was kicked in the head, hit with a skateboard,” Bianchi said on CNN.

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. 

“Obviously this happened while I was out here,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a news briefing on Friday. “Let me talk to the President and talk to our team and we will get to a statement as soon as we can.” 

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.

The fourth day of jury deliberations in the Kyle Rittenhouse case is about to begin.

So far, the jury has deliberated for an estimated 23 hours total on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. We don’t have an exact time as the court has not released specific start, stop or lunch break times.

Jurors are set to reconvene at 10 a.m. ET to continue deliberations.

A verdict could come at any time.

The jury in the Kyle Rittenhouse case is set to reconvene at 10 a.m. ET today. This will mark the fourth day of deliberations.

The 12-person jury, made up of five men and seven women, deliberated for an estimated 23 hours total on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. They have asked the court a handful of questions so far, including requests Wednesday to rewatch much of the video evidence of the shootings.

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

The jury will reconvene at 10 a.m. ET today for a fourth day of deliberations in the homicide trial of Kyle Rittenhouse. While we wait for the jurors to assemble, here’s a look at the five felony counts against Rittenhouse.

Count 1: First-degree reckless homicide, use of a dangerous weapon

Count 1 states Rittenhouse recklessly caused the death of 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum under circumstances that showed utter disregard for human life.

Wisconsin law allows the use of deadly force only if “necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.”

Count 2: First-degree recklessly endangering safety, use of a dangerous weapon

Count 2 states Rittenhouse recklessly endangered the safety of Richard McGinniss — a journalist with the conservative Daily Caller — under circumstances that show utter disregard for human life.

Count 3: First-degree recklessly endangering safety, use of a dangerous weapon

Count 3 states Rittenhouse recklessly endangered the safety of an unknown male, referred to as “jump kick man” in court, under circumstances that show utter disregard for human life.

The man jumped at Rittenhouse at one point, trying to kick him and the teen opened fire. “I thought if I were to be knocked out, he would have stomped my face in if I didn’t fire,” he said. Rittenhouse fired at the man twice and missed.

Count 4: First-degree intentional homicide, use of a dangerous weapon

Count 4 states Rittenhouse caused the death of 26-year-old Anthony Huber, with intent to kill him. It’s the most serious charge he faces, with a mandatory life sentence. Huber swung his skateboard at Rittenhouse after Rosenbaum was fatally shot.

Prosecutors asked that the jury also be instructed on second-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide and second-degree reckless homicide.

Defense attorneys objected to second-degree reckless homicide. The judge said he “embraced” the defense’s argument. But he will likely allow lesser charges of second-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless homicide.

Count 5: Attempted first-degree intentional homicide, use of a weapon

Count 5 states Rittenhouse attempted to cause the death of 27-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz, with intent to kill him.

After shooting Huber, Rittenhouse testified, he saw Grosskreutz lunge at him and point a pistol at his head. Rittenhouse shot him, he testified. Grosskreutz was wounded.

Grosskreutz testified he pulled out his own firearm because he believed Rittenhouse was an active shooter.

Prosecutors asked for lesser charges of attempted second-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless endangerment and second-degree reckless endangerment. Schroeder said he was inclined to agree with the prosecution.

Remember: A misdemeanor weapons charge was dismissed by the judge as proceedings opened Monday morning.