The man who bought Kyle Rittenhouse the gun he used to kill two people and injure a third during a night of violent confrontations in Kenosha, Wisconsin, testified Tuesday that he and Rittenhouse had been part of an armed militia tasked with defending a car dealership from vandals.
Dominick Black, the state’s first witness in the high-profile homicide trial, described Rittenhouse as a brother, saying they traveled to downtown Kenosha together and thought nobody would start trouble if they saw Rittenhouse with an assault-style rifle.
Black said he was on the rooftop when he heard shots ring out but didn’t know Rittenhouse was involved until he heard his friend cry, “I shot somebody, I shot somebody.”
Black testified that after the shooting, Rittenhouse was “scared,” “pale,” and “freaking out.” Rittenhouse repeated that he acted in self-defense because “people were trying to hurt him.”
JURY SELECTION BEGINS IN KYLE RITTENHOUSE TRIAL
Rittenhouse, then 17 years old, shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36. He also fatally shot Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 27.
He faces multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree homicide, attempted homicide, reckless endangerment, and a curfew violation. He has pleaded not guilty. If convicted of first-degree homicide, he could spend the rest of his life behind bars.
His case has become a political and social lightning rod, pitting armed citizens against demonstrators who demanded change after Kenosha police officer Rusten Sheskey, a white man, shot Jacob Blake Jr., a black man, seven times at close range in the back.
The incident was caught on video and brought hundreds to the small manufacturing city nestled on the banks of Lake Michigan between Milwaukee and Chicago. Peaceful protests over police brutality gave way to lawlessness that ended in two deaths, several injuries, multiple arrests, and $50 million in damages.
During opening remarks, prosecutor Thomas Binger painted Rittenhouse as a tourist who unnecessarily inserted himself into the unrest.
“Like moths to a flame, tourists from outside our community were drawn to the chaos,” he said.
Binger pointed to Rittenhouse, dressed in a dark suit with a maroon shirt and tie, and told jurors, “The evidence will show that the only person who killed anyone was the defendant, Kyle Rittenhouse.”
Binger spent most of Tuesday focusing on Rosenbaum’s killing and said it was Rittenhouse who started a conflict that caused Rosenbaum to chase him across a parking lot. Binger also told jurors Rosenbaum was fatally shot because he threw a plastic bag at the teenager. He also said the first two bullets hit Rosenbaum in the lower extremities, causing him to fall forward.
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Defense attorney Mark Richards pushed back on the narrative, arguing the incident escalated because of Rosenbaum and that Rittenhouse fired four shots in less than a second because Rosenbaum was “trying to take Kyle’s weapon from him to use against him.”
Local media reported that Rittenhouse looked on quietly during most of Tuesday’s proceedings but yawned occasionally.
He was arrested on Aug. 26, 2020, and charged a day later. On Nov. 2, 2020, a Wisconsin court set his bail at $2 million. Conservative groups, as well as actor Ricky Schroder and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, helped raise funds for his release.
Black is accused of buying the AR-15-style rifle for Rittenhouse because he was not old enough to purchase one legally himself.
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Black has been charged with two felony counts of supplying a dangerous weapon to a minor causing death. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
Rittenhouse’s trial is expected to last two to three weeks.
The jury is made up of a panel of 20 people — 11 women and nine men. Though all 20 jurors will hear the case, the number will be cut to 12 to reach a verdict.
