Rittenhouse Trial: How To Watch Jury Selection

KENOSHA, WI — Jury selection for Kyle Rittenhouse, the 18-year-old who is accused of shooting and killing two protesters in August of 2020, will start on Monday in the Kenosha County Courthouse.

Rittenhouse is charged with first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide, attempted homicide, two counts of recklessly endangering safety and possessing a firearm while under 18.

Jury selection begins at 9 a.m. The following is a stream of the courtroom.

A total of 20 jurors will be seated to hear the case, Kenosha County Clerk of Circuit Court Rebecca Matoska-Mentink told Patch. Eventually 12 jurors will deliberate and find whether Rittenhouse is guilty of the charges or not.

Defense attorneys Corey Chirafisi and Mark Richards say that Rittenhouse's shooting was in self-defense, and will have to prove to the jury if Rittenhouse was aware of the behavior of the people he shot.

Assistant District Attorneys Thomas Binger and James Kraus say that Rittenhouse was partaking in vigilante activity and wanted to cause violence against people with opposing beliefs.

Protests in Kenosha started after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, seven times in the back in August of 2020. The days of protest took place amid a backdrop of racial justice protests across the country. Local and federal investigators cleared Rusten Sheskey, the officer who shot Blake, of wrongdoing.

Rittenhouse is accused of shooting and killing Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, on the night of Aug. 25, 2020. He also shot and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 27.

Kenosha Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder ruled that defense attorneys could refer to those shot as "looters," while forbidding the word "victim" from being used in the trial. Schroeder said he felt the word was loaded.

Defense attorneys plan to use John Black, a use of force expert, to testify at trial and comment on video evidence. Black said that Rittenhouse wasn't the initiator of his own actions at a motion hearing.

Prosecutors want to use a video of a man — believed to be Rittenhouse — who is seen threatening people walking out of a CVS, saying, "Bro, I wish I had my [expletive] AR. I'd start shooting rounds at them." The judge rejected using the video at the trial at a motion hearing, but said he would consider it later.

See Also: Kyle Rittenhouse Trial: What To Know When Jury Selection Begins