Kyle Rittenhouse sobs on the stand at murder trial, attorneys seek mistrial
Kyle Rittenhouse was defiant as he took the stand in his own defense Wednesday, calmly explaining his actions during last year’s mayhem in Kenosha, Wisconsin — and sobbing uncontrollably as he described the moments that led up to him shooting the first man that he killed.
“I did what I had to do to stop the person who was attacking me by killing them,” he said during the court proceedings, which were marked by fiery exchanges by the trial’s judge and lead prosecutor. Meanwhile, Rittenhouse’s attorneys asked the judge to declare a mistrial over the prosecution’s line of questioning.
Rittenhouse, 18, broke down after he started to explain that he was “cornered” outside one of the car businesses that he was defending from protesters before he fatally shot the first man he killed that night, Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, on Aug. 25, 2020.
“That’s when I run,” Rittenhouse said, before becoming too overcome with emotion to continue.
The emotionally charged testimony prompted Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder to call a recess for 10 minutes, as Rittenhouse’s mother also cried in the gallery.
Rittenhouse faces six charges, including intentional homicide for killing Rosenbaum and another man, Anthony Huber, 26, as well as wounding Gaige Grosskreutz, 27.
Under cross-examination, a defiant Rittenhouse insisted he didn’t intend to kill any of the three victims.
“I didn’t intend to kill them. I intended to stop the people who were attacking me,” Rittenhouse told jurors. “I did what I had to do to stop the person who was attacking me by killing them.”
Rittenhouse testified that after fatally shooting Rosenbaum, he approached a man on a street for help and told him that he had just shot someone.
“I remember telling him that I just shot somebody and I need help to get to the police because there … was now a crowded mob chasing me,” he said.
Asked by defense attorney Mark Richards why he wanted to go to the police, he said he believed he “didn’t do anything wrong.”
“I defended myself,” he said.
Rittenhouse, who was wearing a navy suit and matching tie, testified that Rosenbaum had threatened to kill him twice the night of the triple shooting.
“He screamed, ‘If I catch any of you alone, I’m going to f–king kill you,’” Rittenhouse told the jurors.
He claimed that Rosenbaum was walking with a steel chain and appeared to be “mad about something.”
“I saw him tip that trailer over,” Rittenhouse said, adding that he also believes he saw him try to set a Port-a-Potty on fire.
Rittenhouse said that later, outside one of the car businesses he was defending, he heard Rosenbaum say, “I’m going to cut your f–king hearts out.”
“And I’m not going to repeat the second word, but ‘kill you N-words,’” Rittenhouse said.
After hearing a shot fired directly behind him, Rittenhouse claimed that he turned around to find Rosenbaum charging at him with his hands out in front.
“I remember his hand on the barrel of my gun,” Rittenhouse said.
Rittenhouse testified that he shot him what he believes was four times — and lingered around his body before other people began shouting, “Get his a–, get his a– and get him.”
While running through the streets, his second victim, Huber, struck him twice with a skateboard, then tried to grab the rifle strapped to his body, he said.
“He grabs my gun and I can feel it pulling away from me,” he said, adding that he felt “the strap starting to come off my body.”
“What did you do then?” his attorney asked.
“I shot him,” Rittenhouse replied.
Rittenhouse said when he lowered his weapon, his third victim, Grosskreutz, “lunges at me with his pistol pointed directly at my head” and he shot him too.
Rittenhouse was 17 when he brought a semi-automatic rifle and a medical kit to Kenosha in what he claims was an effort to protect businesses as riots broke out on Aug. 25, 2020, following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man who was left paralyzed from the waist down.
Wednesday’s testimony was disrupted by a fiery exchange between Schroeder and lead prosecutor Thomas Binger.
Schroeder blasted Binger for improperly trying to introduce testimony that the judge had earlier said he was inclined to prohibit.
The judge accused Binger of attempting to provoke a mistrial in the case with his line of questioning.
The defense requested a mistrial with prejudice, meaning that the state wouldn’t be able to retry the teen.
Rittenhouse’s attorneys accused Binger of “prosecutorial overreach,” saying his line of questioning should not have touched on topics such as his right to remain silent post-arrest.
“I think the court has to make some findings as it relates to the bad faith on the part of the prosecution, and if the court makes a finding that the actions that I had talked about were done in bad faith,” defense attorney Corey Chirafisi said.
The judge only agreed to take the motion under advisement, saying he wanted to give prosecutors a chance to respond.
Schroeder, however, issued a directive to the prosecution.
“There better not be another incident,” Schroeder said.
Schroeder shot down the prosecution’s request to show the jury selfies that Rittenhouse took wearing a shirt that said, “Free as f–k,” months after the shootings.
Binger argued that the photos showed that Rittenhouse may have committed the shootings to “gain attention to be famous.” But Schroeder ruled it inadmissible, saying that he struggled to see the relevance of photos that “occurred four months after the incidents in question.”
If convicted of intentional homicide, which is the state’s equivalent of first-degree murder, Rittenhouse faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.
