Rittenhouse has argued that he shot the men in self-defense. Prosecutors have charged Rittenhouse with multiple counts, including homicide and being a minor in possession of a firearm. Rittenhouse fired at the man who kicked him but missed, shot and killed Huber and wounded Grosskreutz in the arm. In a matter of seconds an unidentified man tried to kick him in the head, Anthony Huber hit him in the head with a skateboard and Gaige Grosskreutz charged him with a pistol. Bystander video shows a crowd chasing Rittenhouse down the street. Just before midnight, he shot Joseph Rosenbaum, killing him, after Rosenbaum chased him into a parking lot. Rittenhouse was 17 years old at the time and said he had gone to Kenosha to protect downtown businesses from looters.
The city on the Wisconsin-Illinois border was in the throes of several nights of chaotic demonstrations after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, who was resisting arrest during a domestic dispute. Rittenhouse brought a semi-automatic rifle to the protest in Kenosha in August 2020. “A younger guy is going to think this guy is going to hurt me when really it’s not true.” “In terms of how he reacted, they want to show it in context that he’s young and he’s not experienced and would be more likely to perceive (the protest) as a more threatening situation (than an older person),” Turner said.