The prosecution and defense sparred over whether or not Kyle Rittenhouse’s deadly actions last year in Kenosha, Wisconsin, constituted reasonable self-defense in opening arguments on Tuesday.
Rittenhouse fatally shot two men and wounded a third in Kenosha on August 25, 2020, after traveling from nearby Antioch, Illinois, to help protect residents and businesses. Protests in the city had devolved into riots over the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Looters and rioters raged over the city, wreaking havoc and causing severe damage to property.
Amid the chaos, Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, shot and killed two men, 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum and 26-year-old Anthony Huber. Rittenhouse also wounded a third man Gaige Grosskreutz, who was 26 at the time. Rittenhouse turned himself in to the police in Antioch early the next morning, roughly an hour and a half after firing his last shot.