Kyle Rittenhouse

Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old from Antioch, Illinois, shot three protesters during multiple confrontations at two locations. He was armed, allegedly illegally, with an AR-15 style rifle and one of the victims had a handgun. The protesters had been chasing him and were physically confronting him at the time that they were shot. He has been described as having participated in local police cadet programs and expressing support on social media for the Blue Lives Matter movement and law enforcement.

About Kyle Rittenhouse in brief

Summary Kyle RittenhouseOn August 25, 2020, amid the Kenosha unrest, Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old from Antioch, Illinois, shot three protesters during multiple confrontations at two locations. He was armed, allegedly illegally, with an AR-15 style rifle and one of the victims had a handgun. The protesters had been chasing him and were physically confronting him at the time that they were shot. Two other protesters also chased and confronted Ritten house, and he either did not shoot at them, or missed. He has been described as having participated in local police cadet programs and expressing support on social media for the Blue Lives Matter movement and law enforcement. In the hours leading up to the shooting, Rittenhouses appeared in multiple videos by protesters and bystanders, including in two interviews: One by a livestreamer at a car dealership where he and a number of other armed men had stationed themselves. The dealership had suffered USD 1. 5 million in arson damage the previous night. The five confrontations and subsequent shooting took place shortly before midnight along Sheridan Road, where protesters went after law enforcement and being expelled from the Civic Center Park. Protesters were recorded on video having identical clothing, having built the same rifle and having put out a dumpster, lit on fire, through a crowd and towards a gas station. A group of armed individuals had asked him to deputize them so they could patrol the city, which he refused. He said he did not know if Rittenshouse had been part of the group, but the possibility of an incident occurring was why he had refused the request.

The group denied any affiliation with RittenHouse and its leader said he never met or communicated with him. The incident took place on the night of the George Floyd protests, which precipitated the formation of a militia group he called theKenosha Guard. On August 25,. 2020, after he had heard about a local business owner who wanted help defending his car dealership, he and his friend Dominick David Black \”armed themselves with rifles\” and went to that business. When asked why he was there, he said: ‘So, people are getting injured, and our job is to protect this business. Part of my job is also to help people. If there is somebody hurt, I’m running into harm’s way. That’S why I have my rifle, because I have to protect myself, obviously. I also have my med kit kit.’ The dealership subsequently suffered a further USD1.5 million in vandalism and arson damage. The protests included rallies, marches, property damage, arson, and clashes with police. The police shooting was followed by protests aspart of the Black Lives Matter Movement, which has seen a resurgence in the wake of several other high-profile killings by police officers in 2020. Jacob Blake, an African-American man, was shot four times in the back by a police officer after he was unsuccessfully tasered. He is expected to survive, but is paralyzed from the waist down.