Kyle Rittenhouse verdict: Gun group to ‘award’ AR-15 to teen as defence attorney calls Trump Jr ‘idiot’
Teen acquitted on homicide charges following Kenosha shootings
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Kyle Rittenhouse’s attorney has criticised Republican lawmakers he has accused of trying to capitalise on his client and has called their behaviour “disgusting”.
He also called Donald Trump Jr an “idiot” for supporting an offer by Guns of America to give Mr Rittenhouse a free AR-15 rifle, similar to the one used by Mr Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin on 25 August, 2020.
Mark Richards, who represented Mr Rittenhouse at trial, told Insider: “He’s an idiot. I don’t have to expand on that because it speaks for itself.”
At least three members of Congress have suggested offering internships to Mr Rittenhouse following his acquittal.
“They want to trade on his celebrity and I think it’s disgusting,” Mr Richards told Insider after the verdict.
Protests across the US followed his acquittal, after a jury found him not guilty on all five counts in his homicide trial after four days of deliberations.
Fox News personality Tucker Carlson will interview Mr Rittenhouse on Monday, and the network is set to air a documentary-style film about the trial in December.
Mr Richards told CNN on Friday that he did not approve of a film crew embedding with the legal team.
Justin Wells, a senior executive producer of Tucker Carlson Tonight, told the Associated Press that no payment was made for access, footage rights, legal fees or any other purpose to Mr Rittenhouse or his family.
In a clip from the upcoming documentary showing Mr Rittenhouse after the verdict, he says that “the jury reached the correct verdict. Self-defense in not illegal.”
He continued: “I believe they came to the correct verdict and I’m glad that everything went well.”
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Nearly half of Americans do not support stricter gun laws, poll finds
Roughly 49 per cent of Americans oppose stricter gun laws, while 45 percent are in support, according to a Quinnipiac University poll from earlier this month.
The results fall largely along partisan lines: 84 per cent of Republicans oppose restrictions on guns, while 91 per cent of Democrats support them.
For the first time since December 2015, fewer than 50 per cent of American voters support stricter gun laws. Among registered voters, 48 per cent oppose them, while 47 per cent are in support.
Rittenhouse attorney says he is inundated with death threats
Kyle Rittenhouse defense attorney Mark Richards told Insider that he “can’t count” the number of death threats he has received because they’re “too high”.
“I would love for things to change, for people to talk to one another without fighting, but, unfortunately, I don’t see it changing it any time soon,” he told the website.
He said after his client was acquitted on Friday in Kenosha and he “started answering my phone, the first three calls were death threats, and I just quit answering my phone,” he said.
“I’m going through my emails, there are threatening emails too,” he said.
Windows smashed in downtown Portland Rittenhouse protest
Law enforcement in Portland Friday night declared a riot as about 200 demonstrators protested the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse who killed two people and injured another in Wisconsin.
The Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said the protesters were breaking windows, throwing objects at police and talking about burning down a local government building in downtown Portland, KOIN TV reported, but the crowd had dispersed by about 11 p.m.
Several people were given citations, the Portland Police Bureau said, but only one person who had an outstanding warrant from another matter was arrested.
via AP
Windows smashed in downtown Portland Rittenhouse protest
Law enforcement in Portland Friday night declared a riot as about 200 demonstrators protested the acquittal of a teen who killed two people and injured another in Wisconsin
What’s next for Kyle Rittenhouse?
After avoiding a possible life behind bars, Kyle Rittenhouse left Kenosha courthouse a free man to pursue a potential life of either nursing, politics or relative anonymity.
But his acquittal of first-degree intentional homicide may not end his legal woes as a battle brews over who gets the $2m raised for his bond, and his case is referred to the Department of Justice for possible federal charges.
Immediately after the verdict, defence attorney Mark Richards said Mr Rittenhouse would likely leave Wisconsin, move to a new area, and fade into obscurity as the intense national media attention subsides.
Here, Justin Vallejo takes a look at what is next for the teenager.
Next for Rittenhouse: College, Congress and a bitter battle over his $2m bond awaits
Will Kyle Rittenhouse use court-sanctioned freedom to study nursing at college or intern for GOP in Congress?
Fox News is to air documentary about Kyle Rittenhouse’s homicide trial
Hours after a jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse on charges of homicide, Fox News personality Tucker Carlson announced that he will not only interview the teenager but air a documentary about him.
On 19 November, the host of Tucker Carlson Tonight revealed that a film crew had followed the 18-year-old during the trial, although defence attorney Mark Richards told CNN that he did “not approve of that”.
“I threw them out of the room several times,” Mr Richards said on Friday following the verdict. “I don’t think a film crew is appropriate for something like this.”
Alex Woodward has the full story
Rittenhouse attorney ‘did not approve of’ Tucker Carlson film crew following team
Fox News is to air documentary about teenager’s homicide trial
Fox News says the network did not pay the teenager’s family for any special access during trial
A Fox News executive said on Saturday that the network did not pay Kyle Rittenhouse’s family for any special access during the teen’s murder trial or after his acquittal, after it was announced that he would speak to Tucker Carlson for an interview to air on Monday.
via AP
Fox says it did not pay for Rittenhouse film and interview
Fox News on Saturday said it did not pay Kyle Rittenhouse for any special access during his murder trial or after his acquittal
Kyle Rittenhouse's attorney calls Trump Jr an ‘idiot’ for offering the teen free guns
Kyle Rittenhouse’s attorney Mark Richards criticised Trump Jr and other Republicans trying to profit on the recent verdict.
Richards said he was unhappy with Republican party members such as Paul Gosar, Matt Gaetz and Madison Cawthorn offering Rittenhouse an internship.
“They’re raising money on it and you have all these Republican congressmen saying come work for me,” Rittenhouse’s attorney told Insider. “They want to trade on his celebrity and I think it’s disgusting.”
Richards also called out Trump Jr. for tweeting about a gun rights organisation wanting to award Rittenhouse with another AR-15 in a now-deleted tweet.
“He’s an idiot,” Richards said. “I don’t have to expand on that because it speaks for itself.”
Lessons to learn from Rittenhouse trial for other self defense cases
Following the recent jury verdict that Kyle Rittenhouse was acting in self defense when he shot two men dead, commentators are reassessing the expected outcome of other trials.
In Georgia, three men stand trail for killing Ahmaud Arbery, something they claim they did in self defense.
The verdict in that case is expected as soon as next week, with the closing arguments being heard on Monday.
William Bryan, Greg McMichael and his son Travis McMichael are charged with the murder of the 25-year-old Arbery. Prosecutors say they chased and shot Arbery to death as he took a Sunday afternoon job in February last year.
The result of Rittenhouse’s trial has caused activists to doubt the American justice system and some have been drawing parallels between the two cases.
“Is there any real justice in this system?” Barbara Arnwine, an activist who was attending the Arbery trial, told The Washington Post following Rittenhouse’s acquittal.
Others who were stood outside the Arbery trial, reacted to the news in the Rittenhouse case. Armiah Crawford told NPR: “If he can get off with that, then what can anybody else get off with? That’s crazy”.
Ahmaud’s father, Marcus Arbery, said: “It just scare you about this justice system. This world ain’t going to never get right till this justice system get right and be fair and start putting these people in jail behind this unnecessary killing.”
What we know about the three men shot by Kyle Rittenhouse
Joseph Rosenbaum
Joseph Rosenbaum crossed paths with Kyle Rittenhouse in a used-car lot. He had just been discharged from hospital in Milwaukee where he had been treated for a suicide attempt.
It is not clear why he was out on Kenosha’s streets the night of the protests but his fiance lived in the city.
Rosenbaum was unarmed and carries a plastic bag containing a toothbrush, toothpaste, socks, deodorant and some papers.
According to Rittenhouse’s lawyers, Rosenbaum came up to Kyle Rittenhouse and tried to “engage him”. Rittenhouse ran away and Rosenbaum chased after him.
A video shows that Rosenbaum threw his plastic bag at Rittenhouse, who responded by firing four shots at him.
Rittenhouse argued during the trial that Rosenbaum had reached for his gun.
Anthony Huber
After he shot at Rosenbaum, Rittenhouse panicked and started running away towards a line of police.
Several protesters saw him and thought he was an “active shooter”. A couple started chasing him, including Anthony Huber.
Anthony Huber, who was a keen skater, caught up with Rittenhouse and tried to stop him by hitting him with a skateboard. During the tussle, Rittenhouse shot Huber dead.
Gaige Grosskreutz
Gaige Grosskreutz was also among the number of people who chased after Rittenhouse.
He was armed with a pistol, but also had a pack of medical supplies. He had been to dozens of protests over the summer and said he was at this one to help out with medical care.
He was shot in the arm by Rittenhouse.
Calls for Joe Biden to apologise to Kyle Rittenhouse following not guilty verdict
A US Senator has called on President Joe Biden to apologise to Kyle Rittenhouse after a jury found that he had acted in self defense when he shot three men last year.
Senator Tom Cotton tweeted: “Joe Biden needs to publicly apologize to Kyle Rittenhouse.” He was demanding an apology from Biden over the President’s use of Rittenhouse’s image in a video he tweeted during his presidential campaign.
The video attempted to link former President Trump to White supremacists. It showed a clip from a Presidential debate where President Trump was asked if he would condemn white supremacists and militia groups.
The questioner referenced the violence in Kenosha and Portland last year and Rittenhouse’s image accompanied that voice over.
There is no suggestion that Kyle Rittenhouse is linked to white supremacists or militia.