Kyle Rittenhouse Trial Opening Statements: 5 Things To Know

KENOSHA, WI — Defense lawyers for Kyle Rittenhouse and prosecutors offered up starkly differing opening statements to a jury of 20 people Tuesday at the start of a homicide trial.

Rittenhouse, 18, was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, attempted homicide, two counts of recklessly endangering safety and possessing a firearm as a minor.

He was accused of shooting and killing Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha, and Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake, Wisconsin, and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, of West Allis, during protests in downtown Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger told the jury that Rittenhouse was the only person to shoot someone else during days of protests in Kenosha in 2020 as fireworks and guns went off around hundreds of people.

The group Rittenhouse arrived in Wisconsin with from Antioch, Illinois, were "tourists from outside the community" there to "cause chaos," Binger said.

Rittenhouse's lawyer, Mark Richards, argued that his actions were protected by Wisconsin's self-defense laws. Richards showed jurors video of Rosenbaum cursing and threatening people before his confrontation with Rittenhouse.

"Evidence will show that [Rosenbaum] thought, probably, that he could get that gun from Kyle Rittenhouse," Richards said. The attorney added that Rittenhouse was attacked later by people who didn't witness the first shooting.

Here's five things that prosecution and defense said Tuesday.

1. Rittenhouse fired four shots when confronted by Rosenbaum at a Car Source parking lot in Kenosha, Binger said. A medical professional will testify that one bullet hit Rosenbaum in the back after he fell, which is the one that killed him, Binger said.

2. Infrared aerial video will show that Rittenhouse chased Rosenbaum, and a confrontation started between the two when Rosenbaum stopped, Binger said. Before Rittenhouse opened fire, a different man across the street fired a handgun in the air.

3. Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder told both prosecutors and defense that they couldn't bring up Rosenbaum's pending domestic case or similar incidents during opening statements.

4. Rittenhouse acted in self-defense when he shot and killed Rosenbaum, Richards argued. Under Wisconsin statute 939.48, a person can intentionally use force against someone else if that person believes it's necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to them self unless they were engaging in behavior that would provoke others to attack them.

5. Richards presented nearly 40 videos and photos in his opening statement to jurors, including video of Rosenbaum cursing and threatening someone in a video before the shooting and photos of Grosskreutz armed with a handgun before he was shot him in the arm.

The trial will continue Thursday.