Rittenhouse fights extradition in Kenosha shootings

Kyle Rittenhouse carries a weapon as he walks along Sheridan Road in Kenosha, Wisconsin. | AP file photo

WAUKEGAN — The teenager charged with two fatal shootings in Kenosha last month plans to challenge extradition to Wisconsin.

Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, attended the online hearing from the Lake County juvenile detention center.

His only words were: “Good morning, judge.”

Rittenhouse’s attorney, John Pierce, asked for time to review documents and didn’t explain what his argument would be to challenge extradition, but his legal reasoning involved “issues of some complexity, frankly, that have not arisen in the country for some time.”

Prosecutors in Kenosha County charged Rittenhouse last month with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless endangerment.

Kyle Rittenhouse appears virtually for an extradition hearing Friday.

Judge Paul Novak conducted the hearing online from the Lake County courthouse in Waukegan. Participants were not in his courtroom but were patched in via Zoom due to concerns about the coronavirus. The proceedings were broadcast online.

The next court date was scheduled for 9 a.m. Oct. 9.

Rittenhouse hired Pierce, managing partner and founder of Pierce Bainbridge, a firm that has represented former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. In a tweet last month, Pierce said he plans to bring in a “SEAL Team” of former assistant U.S. attorneys.

The shootings Aug. 25 happened during unrest and protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old father of six who is in the hospital and has been left paralyzed from the waist down.

Videos posted on social media show Rittenhouse roaming the streets of Kenosha armed with a rifle.

Some of the footage shows a shooter being chased into a used car lot by someone before shots are heard and the person lies dead. The shooter then runs down the street, where he is chased by several people shouting he just shot someone. He stumbles to the ground and fires as several people run toward him, killing two men and injuring a third.

Rittenhouse, who is being held without bail, was arrested in his hometown of Antioch, near the border of Wisconsin.

The two men killed were Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha, and Anthony Huber, 26, of Kenosha, about 15 miles west of the city. The injured man is Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, of West Allis, a suburb of Milwaukee.

Rittenhouse’s attorneys have previously signaled their intention of arguing Rittenhouse was acting in self-defense when he pulled the trigger.

If convicted of first-degree homicide, Rittenhouse faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison.

Waukegan resident Matt Muchowski organized a small vigil outside the courthouse Friday to remember Huber and Rosenbaum.

“People like Joseph and Anthony are the real heroes,” he said. “They spoke out for justice, fought for safety, paid for it with their lives. ... We don’t seek retribution. We seek justice.”

Matt Muchowski led a vigil Friday for Kenosha shooting victims Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber outside the Lake County Courthouse in Waukegan.