Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial began Tuesday with opening arguments, just a day after the judge presiding over the case established a jury.
Opening remarks began Tuesday morning, with Kenosha County District Attorney Thomas Binger relating the events of the night of the shooting and claiming Mr Rittenhouse went looking for conflict. Mr Rittenhouse’s defense attorney, Mark Richards, argued that he was running away from attackers who were “enraged” and trying to “separate his head from his body” with a skateboard.
Mr Rittenhouse faces seven charges - including first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless homicide - after he shot and killed two men and injured a third during a racial justice protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Mr Rittenhouse’s lawyers are expected to argue that he killed in self defense.
The men Mr Rittenhouse shot were Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, who both died following the incident. Gaige Grosskreutzm, 26, was wounded but survived.
The case became yet another flashpoint for political polarisation in the US; some people on the left saw Mr Rittenhouse as a heartless killer who brought an AR-15 to a racial justice protest, while some people on the right - including right wing media figures - portrayed him as a young man simply protecting himself from riotous mobs.
Due to the divisive nature of the case, nearly a dozen jurors were dismissed after they revealed they had biased views on the case or questioned their ability to deliver a fair verdict. Some potential jurors also reportedly did not want to participate over fear of violent backlash from the supporters and enemies of Mr Rittenhouse.
The trial has already sparked frustration, as Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder told the prosecution that they could not refer to the men Mr Rittenhouse killed as “the victims” because it is a “loaded term,” but could refer to them as “looters” or “rioters.”
