In a blistering final argument to jurors, Kenosha County prosecutors argued Kyle Rittenhouse envisioned himself “some sort of Western hero” when he fatally shot two men and injured a third amid social unrest in the city’s downtown.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger repeatedly called Rittenhouse a liar who aggrandized his abilities and put other people’s lives at risk with his unreasonable behavior. Telling jurors Rittenhouse has shown no remorse, Binger warned against falling for claims that the teen’s youth and inexperience played into his panicked mindset.
“Those are excuses,” he said. “Those are not legal justifications to kill.”
The defense is scheduled to give its closing argument Monday afternoon. The prosecution, because it has the burden of proof, will get a final 30 minutes to address the jury.
Rittenhouse, then a resident of north suburban Antioch, volunteered to patrol downtown Kenosha amid turmoil surrounding the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, who was left partially paralyzed after being shot by a white police officer during a domestic disturbance call days earlier. State and federal prosecutors later declined to charge the officer with any wrongdoing.
Carrying an AR-15-style rifle that police say a friend illegally purchased for him, Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and injured Gaige Grosskreutz during the third night of the city’s unrest in August 2020. Rittenhouse is charged with reckless homicide, intentional homicide and attempted intentional homicide related to his actions toward the men, respectively.
Rittenhouse argues he fired his rifle eight times that night in self-defense.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger holds Kyle Rittenhouse's gun as he gives the state's closing argument in Kyle Rittenhouse's trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse on Nov. 15, 2021. (Sean Krajacic/The Kenosha News)
Shortly before arguments began, Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed a misdemeanor gun charge against the teenager, saying a poorly worded state law seems to allow 17-year-olds to openly carry loaded firearms as long as it was a legal length. In dismissing the count, many legal experts suggest, the ruling cost the prosecution its strongest shot at securing a conviction against Rittenhouse.
That did not prevent prosecutors from talking about the gun and the reasonableness of Rittenhouse showing up with one.
“I think we can all agree we shouldn’t have 17-year-olds running around the street with AR-15s because this is what happens,” Binger said.
Rittenhouse had only fired the gun once prior to that chaotic night, shooting about 100 rounds on a friend’s property in northern Wisconsin. He took the rifle to downtown Kenosha, loading it with about 30 rounds of full metal jacket ammunition.
“That AR-15 had no lawful and legitimate purpose that night,” Binger told the jury.
As in other states, Wisconsin allows people to use guns to defend themselves against serious threats, but there are exceptions to that right, including the reasonableness of Rittenhouse’s belief that his actions were necessary to prevent his death or serious injury. The jury must answer that question from the defendant’s viewpoint at the time of the alleged offenses.
The judge also approved a provocation instruction, meaning jurors will be asked to determine whether Rittenhouse provoked the confrontation with Rosenbaum, an unarmed man who chased Rittenhouse before the shooting. If the panel finds Rittenhouse was the provoker, legal experts say, his self-defense claim could be negated.
Judge Bruce Schroeder makes a last-minute change to how jury instructions would be received by the jury during Kyle Rittenhouse's trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse on Nov. 15, 2021. (Sean Krajacic/The Kenosha News)
Prosecutors argue Rittenhouse sparked the incident when he pointed his rifle at a bystander and Rosenbaum gave chase. Binger repeatedly showed jurors a drone video that prosecutors say backs up this claim.
“This is the provocation,” Binger says. “This is what starts the incident.”
After shooting Rosenbaum, Rittenhouse ran away from the scene, despite having a medical kit with supplies meant to stop bleeding quickly. Prosecutors showed a video of a dying Rosenbaum struggling to breathe as professional videographer Richard McGinniss works to save him.
“While that’s going on, the defendant flees, callously disregarding the body of the man he just shot,” Binger said.
Now 18, Rittenhouse is also charged with the reckless endangerment of McGinniss, who though not struck testified he felt he was in danger when standing in the line of fire as Rittenhouse shot Rosenbaum. McGinniss said he was a few feet behind Rosenbaum when he heard him shout an expletive at Rittenhouse and lunge for his gun.
As Rittenhouse headed down Kenosha’s main road, he testified in his own defense last week, Huber hit him with his skateboard, causing him to become lightheaded and stumble to the ground. While he was on the ground, a man jumped over Rittenhouse and attempted to kick his head. Rittenhouse fired two shots at him and missed. He faces a reckless endangerment charge for those shots.
Huber then attempted to stop Rittenhouse with his skateboard, hitting him in the head. The teen fired a single shot into Huber’s chest, killing him almost immediately.
Binger described both men as heroes willing to risk their own safety.
“They’re not a credible, imminent threat to his life,” Binger said. “They’re trying to stop an active shooter.”
In the video, Grosskreutz approached Rittenhouse with a cellphone in one hand and his pistol in the other. Video shows the teen turning toward him with his rifle and Grosskreutz raising his hands.
Rittenhouse then checked his gun, and Grosskreutz took a step forward, his left arm stretched out and the hand holding the gun pulled back with the barrel pointed toward the teen. Rittenhouse fired a bullet into his arm, essentially blowing off his entire right bicep.
When Binger showed the jury a close-up photo of Grosskreutz’s bicep largely obliterated after he was shot, several jurors appeared to wince and turn away. Binger acknowledged their reaction, saying, “It’s hard to look at, but this is what we are dealing with.”
After shooting Grosskreutz, Rittenhouse made his way down the street “like he’s some sort of hero in a Western, without a care in the world for anything he’s done,” Binger said.
“This is someone who has no remorse,” Binger told the jury. “No regard for life, only cares about himself.”
Activist Jennifer Pierce-Miller, of Calion, Arkansas, argues with Kenosha resident Ken Turner outside the Kenosha County Courthouse on Nov. 15, 2021. Pierce-Miller believes Rittenhouse should be convicted. Turner said he came out "to see what's up. You got to stand up for what you believe in." (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)
Rittenhouse tried to turn himself in, but the patrolmen ignored his attempts to surrender and drove by him. His friend, Dominick Black, eventually drove him back home, where he turned himself in at the Antioch police station.
Since its inception, the case has served as a sort of national Rorschach test, with some seeing in the teenager a patriot who used his Second Amendment right to defend himself and others viewing him as a gun-wielding white boy who believed he could act with impunity. Binger acknowledged the deep divide, reminding jurors they had promised to ignore all the political noise surrounding the case.
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