Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, was found not guilty on Friday of murder and attempted murder amid spiraling protests, civil unrest and destruction in the aftermath of the 2020 police shooting of Jacob Blake. There was no dispute that Rittenhouse opened fire on Aug. 25, 2020, but his lawyers argued all along that he killed two men and wounded a third in self-defense.
The jury returned Friday morning to continue deliberations for the fourth day. Jurors appear to have spent more than 24 hours in total time to reach their verdict.
Rittenhouse collapsed as the verdict was read. He was found not guilty on all counts.
Rittenhouse was ostensibly in Kenosha, Wisconsin, that fateful night to protect private property. His defense maintained that he was just protecting himself when the “irrational and crazy” and threatening Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, ambushed Rittenhouse. He fled the scene to find police, but members of the crowd, who did not understand what really happened, attacked Rittenhouse, attorney Mark Richards told jurors. Again acting in self-defense, Rittenhouse, then 17, fatally shot Anthony Huber, 26, who was hitting him with a skateboard, the lawyer said. Rittenhouse then wounded paramedic Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, who the defense maintained lied to investigators and was motivated to tell falsehoods to benefit his lawsuit over the incident. Grosskreutz omitted telling police that he himself was armed with a Glock.
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