KENOSHA — In testimony critical to determining the validity of Kyle Rittenhouse’s self-defense claim, a professional videographer told jurors Thursday that Joseph Rosenbaum had unsuccessfully lunged for the teen’s gun and appeared to be falling toward the ground when he was fatally shot.

       “He said ‘(expletive) you,’ and then he tried to grab the weapon,” Daily Caller videographer Richard McGinniss testified.

       McGinniss, chief video director for the online news site, witnessed the shooting on Aug. 25, 2020, in Kenosha and tried to save Rosenbaum’s life as he lay dying in a used car lot. His interview with Rittenhouse shortly before the shootings went viral last summer as the country grappled with understanding how a suburban teenager ended up in the middle of a chaotic situation with an AR-15-style rifle.

       Richard McGinniss, chief video director for the Daily Caller, was the second witness during the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse on Nov. 4, 2021, in Kenosha. (Pool / Getty Images)

       In addition to helping jurors determine whether Rittenhouse had a reasonable belief his life was in danger when the teen fired his gun, McGinniss is also considered a victim by prosecutors because of his proximity to the shooting. Rittenhouse is charged with recklessly endangering McGinniss’ life and faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted.

       Rittenhouse also faces intentional homicide charges for the death of Anthony Huber and an attempted homicide charge for shooting Gaige Grosskreutz in the arm. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges, asserting he shot the men in order to prevent them from stealing his gun and using it to hurt him.

       McGinniss traveled to Kenosha to record the unrest following the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, by a white police officer. He told jurors he viewed his job as telling the story of the unrest from all sides, including the armed men who offered to protect local businesses.

       He encountered Rittenhouse, then 17, and began talking about his role amid the unrest. Rittenhouse, a part-time lifeguard, told McGinniss he was an adult and a certified emergency technician. The Tribune found no record of Rittenhouse being a licensed EMT in Illinois or Wisconsin.

       McGinniss, who has vast experience covering social unrest, said he found it unusual for a medic to be carrying a gun and first aid kit. From his understanding, participants traditionally stick to a single, designated role. He could only recall seeing one other medic carrying a weapon — a handgun — during violent demonstrations that summer.

       “The presence of weapons, in my mind, elevates the risk,” he testified.

       As he followed Rittenhouse down the street, McGinniss recorded him offering his first aid services to people. McGinniss testified the teen didn’t seem to pick up on the crowd’s hostility toward him as he walked among them shouting “medical! medical!”

       “You think you’re in a movie,” one man can be heard yelling at Rittenhouse on the recording.

       In other testimony Thursday, Ryan Balch, a fellow armed civilian who had been paired with Rittenhouse that night, shared McGinniss’ assessment of the shooter’s naivete. He told jurors Rittenhouse had given him the impression he was 19 and a certified EMT.

       Ryan Balch testifies during Kyle Rittenhouse's trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse on Nov. 4, 2021, in Wisconsin. (Pool / Getty Images)

       “He seemed a little underequipped and under-experienced as well. That’s why we stuck with him,” testified Balch, who said he was an Army veteran with tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. “He seemed like a young and impressionable kid.”

       Rittenhouse became separated from Balch shortly after meeting McGinniss. He then crossed paths with Rosenbaum, who Balch testified had been “hyperaggressive” earlier in the evening.

       The prosecution and defense disagree about who started the chase based upon thermal images from an FBI spy plane, but it’s clear from cellphone camera footage that Rosenbaum is doing the chasing right before the shooting. McGinniss was a few feet behind Rosenbaum when he heard him shout an expletive at Rittenhouse and lunge for his gun.

       McGinniss testified that he doesn’t know if Rosenbaum made physical contact with the weapon, but said it couldn’t have been more than a glancing touch. After making an unsuccessful lunge at Rittenhouse, an unarmed Rosenbaum lost his center of gravity and appeared to be falling, McGinniss said.

       “He was certainly trying to grab the barrel of the gun,” McGinniss told police.

       Rosenbaum’s DNA and fingerprints were not found on the gun. Rittenhouse did not mention anyone trying to steal his gun when he offered his self-defense explanation to Antioch police roughly two hours later, records show.

       McGinniss testified that after Rittenhouse evaded the lunge, the teen pointed his gun “somewhat down” at a falling Rosenbaum and fired four shots in rapid succession. McGinniss, who had been following the men and was directly behind Rosenbaum, said he moved quickly to avoid being in the line of fire.

       Rosenbaum never turned his back to Rittenhouse before being shot, McGinniss testified. This was a key disclosure for the defense, which will argue that even if the fatal bullet was fired into Rosenbaum’s back, it wasn’t as if he was running away from the teen.

       The videographer was so close to Rosenbaum when the shots were fired that McGinniss wondered if he, too, had been shot after feeling a sensation go past his legs. He testified he was unsure whether a bullet brushed his pants or if it was the sound of the gunshots reverberating.

       “I would say that given where I was, certainly, I was in danger,” he said.

       Prosecutors, no doubt, will use the statement to bolster the charge that Rittenhouse recklessly endangered McGinniss’ life. After spending several hours on the witness stand, McGinniss declined to say whether he wanted to see Rittenhouse convicted of the charge that involves him.

       “I’ll let the courts decide,” he told the Tribune.

       The son of an emergency medicine doctor, McGinniss quickly removed his own shirt after the shooting and began applying pressure to Rosenbaum’s wounds. He screamed at someone who turned out to be Rittenhouse to call 911 and saw that person reach into his pocket.

       McGinniss assumed the person was calling 911. He wasn’t.

       Records show Rittenhouse called a friend, Dominick Black, and then ran away. McGinniss, meanwhile, tried to stop Rosenbaum’s bleeding as the dying man took loud, rattling breaths.

       Neither Rittenhouse nor McGinniss watched the video as it played in court. McGinniss, in particular, struggled to maintain his composure as he averted his eyes from the screen and listened to the audio.

       McGinniss helped carry Rosenbaum to an SUV so he could be taken to a nearby hospital. On the way, he told Rosenbaum that he would get through this and they’d have beers together when it was all over.

       Rosenbaum did not respond. McGinniss likes to think the man heard him.

       cmgutowski@chicagotribune.com

       sstclair@chicagotribune.com

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