Courtney Balcombe

News Editor

clb6264@psu.edu

On August 25, 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse, an 18-year-old from Illinois traveled across state lines to Kenosha, Wisconsin where protests had erupted in response to an unidentified police officer who had shot and killed Jacob Blake.

The officer was later identified in October 2020 as Kenosha Police Officer Rusten Sheske, according to NPR the prosecutors decided to not rule against him since video evidence showed that Jacob, who was wanted on a felony warrant, was armed with a knife.

According to CNN after the shooting, the Blake family’s attorney called for prosecutors to arrest the officer who had shot Jacob seven times in the back at point-blank range, leaving Jacob `paralyzed. 

“We are demanding that the prosecutor arrest the officer who shot Jacob Blake, and we also are asking that these officers who violated the policies and their training be terminated immediately,” Crump said. “People question why we have to say ‘Black Lives Matter’ –– this is why. Because Julia and Jacob Sr.’s son was not treated with the humanity that we often give our white brothers and sisters. And it has to stop, and it has to stop at the highest levels of our government.”

According to NPR, Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum then ran away toward a police line. As he ran, he was chased by several other men, including Anthony Huber, who struck him with a skateboard. Rittenhouse shot and killed Huber, then shot and injured Gaige Grosskreutz, who was holding a pistol.

Jacob’s uncle, Justin shared his thoughts on the lives of these three men.

“To see these young men lose their lives, to see their family have to go through worse than we went through, to see the weakness and the underbelly of this country and how the racism runs from the courtroom to the police station to the mayor’s office. They all have blood on their hands for the mishandling of that whole entire night,” Justin said.

NPR reported a separate article about the victims after Rittenhouse was acquitted on all charges. Rosenbaum’s fiancée testified that he had just been released from a hospital in Milwaukee after attempting suicide.

According to Rittenhouse’s lawyers, Rosenbaum approached Rittenhouse and attempted to “engage” him. Afraid, Rittenhouse took off running and Rosenbaum gave chase. Videos of the incident show that Rosenbaum eventually threw the plastic bag he was carrying at Rittenhouse, who responded by firing four shots at the man.

Rittenhouse claimed he had used his AR-15 style rifle in self-defense against these men attacking him.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. I defended myself,” Rittenhouse testified. “If I would have let Mr. Rosenbaum take my firearm from me, he would have used it and killed me with it and probably killed more people if I would have let him get my gun.”

According to CNN Rittenhouse testified during cross-examination that he knew Rosenbaum was unarmed at the time of the shooting. He admitted he did not know what Rosenbaum was thinking when he chased him — but also stated confidently what he thought would have happened.

After Rosenbaum had been shot, Huber had begun to run after Rittenhouse. It was reported by NPR that he eventually caught up to Rittenhouse and tried to stop him by hitting him with a skateboard. Within seconds of the tussle, Rittenhouse had fired a single fatal shot into Huber, who can be seen staggering away, then collapsing onto the ground, in video footage of the incident.

Along with Huber, Grosskreutz also ran after Rittenhouse. While he was armed with a pistol, he testified at the trial that he also had medical supplies that he had taken to other protests that ensued over the summer. During the trial, he also testified that he was not intentionally pointing his weapon at Rittenhouse, but during cross-examination agreed that it was pointed at Rittenhouse at the moment he was shot.

Rittenhouse faced five counts of felonies, 1. First-degree reckless homicide for killing Rosenbaum; 2 and 3. Two counts of reckless endangerment for firing his gun near others; 4. first-degree intentional homicide for killing Huber; and 5. First-degree attempted intentional homicide for shooting Grosskreutz.

On November 19, after the jury spent days reviewing video footage and other evidence they decided Rittenhouse was not guilty on all five charges.

CNN’s Senior National Correspondent Sara Sidner, who was in the courtroom at the time said, “I looked over to the family of Kyle Rittenhouse and at the very last one [of his “not guilty” verdicts] his mother gasped, it sounded like one of those relief gasps… her head fell into her hands and she appeared to be crying.”

Sidner continued, “The verdict, obviously ‘not guilty’ for her son means he is a free man at 18-years old after being charged in a double homicide case with five different charges and, of course, the prosecution cannot retry this case. That would be double jeopardy. It means he can go about his life.”

While Rittenhouse’s family is pleased with the verdict, the family’s of the victims are more displeased that they will not receive justice.

Anthony Huber’s parents, Karen Bloom and John Huber shared that “today’s verdict means there is no accountability for the person who murdered our son … The police let Mr. Rittenhouse leave the scene freely. Mr. Rittenhouse came to Kenosha armed to kill. Kenosha police encouraged him to act violently, and our son is dead as a result. We are so proud of Anthony, and we love him so much. He is a hero who sacrificed his own life to protect other innocent civilians. We ask that you remember Anthony and keep him in your prayers.”

According to CNN, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers said Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial has “reopened wounds that have not yet fully healed” and called for peace in Kenosha following the teen’s acquittal.

Anthony Huber’s girlfriend, Hannah Gittings, called the system “a failure.”

“I don’t think that any of us who were directly involved in what happened last year on the 25th are really that surprised. We know that this system is a failure,” Gittings said. “Personally, I am especially not surprised at the outcome of this verdict.”

Along with Gittings, Rosenbaum’s fiancée Kariann Swart felt that “the victims’ lives don’t matter.”

“If one person’s life or two persons’ lives don’t matter, then none of our lives matter,” Swart said. “And I feel like in this case, it feels like the victims’ lives don’t matter. And I don’t think that that is acceptable.”

After four days of deliberations, the jury found Rittenhouse not guilty of all charges, but if he had been found guilty, he would have faced a mandatory life sentence and been convicted of first-degree intentional homicide.

“The jury has represented our community in this trial and has spoken,” Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said Friday after the verdict.

Binger added in a later statement: We are grateful to the members of the jury for their diligent and thoughtful deliberations. The Kenosha community has endured much over the past 15 months and yet we remain resilient and strong. We ask that the members of our community continue express their opinions and feelings about this verdict in a civil and peaceful manner.”