Kyle Rittenhouse trial: Teenager opened fire seconds after someone else shot into the air, court hears

Jury is shown video of the moment teenager fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum on the second day of his homicide trial

Kyle Rittenhouse opened fire on protesters at a racial justice demonstration seconds after someone else shot into the air, according to a video played in court on the second day of his homicide trial.

On Wednesday jurors were shown footage of the moment Mr Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum in the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, on 25 August, 2020.

The video also captured a gunshot seconds earlier that was allegedly fired by Joshua Ziminski, who is expected to play a key role in Mr Rittenhouse’s trial as he faces his own charges of disorderly conduct, obstructing an officer and arson.

The footage was filmed by Koerri Washington, who took the witness stand to describe the chaos he witnessed on the night Mr Rittenhouse shot Mr Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz. Mr Rosenbaum and Mr Huber were both killed.

Mr Washington, who described himself as a “social media influencer,” said he began following Mr Rittenhouse because he looked like an “interesting figure” who was “young and didn’t know what was going on.”

“He just looked young to me,” Mr Washington said. “It wasn’t anything malicious. Young person, in a situation. And he had his gloves on, and he was smoking cigarettes and stuff.”

Koerri Washington testifies at Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial on 3 November (Getty Images)

He testified that in the moments before the shooting Mr Rittenhouse looked “nervous,” and Mr Rosenbaum was acting “erratic,” though he acknowledged: “A lot of people were nervous.”

Mr Washington said he jumped on his skateboard and fled as soon as gunshots rang out.

Hunched over in a blue suit and tie, Mr Rittenhouse joined jurors in watching the video on a monitor at the defence table.

Before the day’s proceedings got underway, his mother, Wendy Rittenhouse, approached the table to speak with her son and his lawyer.

The 18-year-old faces charges of first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, first degree recklessly endangering safety, and other charges. If convicted, he could face decades in prison.

Kyle Rittenhouse listens to Koerri Washington’s testimony on 3 November (Getty Images)

On the first day of the trial, Mr Rittenhouse’s attorneys presented their argument that he fired his AR-15 in self-defence and claimed that Mr Huber had attempted to decapitate the defendant with a skateboard.

Mr Huber, according to the criminal complaint, approached Mr Rittenhouse after the teen shot Mr Rosenbaum and tried to grab his gun. During the struggle, the document says, a skateboard he was carrying “made contact” with Mr Rittenhouse’s shoulder.

On Tuesday, defence attorney Mark Richards said this was an attempt on Mr Rittenhouse’s life.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I would love to be able to hold up that skateboard in front of you as evidence today, because then you could see it,” Mr Richards told the jury. “You could see the weight and the heft of what a skateboard is, and what that skateboard would do if somebody takes it in their hand and swings down on somebody’s shoulder, head, and neck, trying to separate the head from the body.”

The prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger, objected to that characterisation, but Judge Bruce Schroeder overruled him.

“Kyle Rittenhouse protected himself,” Mr Richards went on, “protected his firearm so it couldn’t be taken and used against him or other people, from Mr Rosenbaum who’d made threats to kill, and the other individuals who didn’t see that shooting, attacked him in the street like an animal.”

Prosecutors, however, have argued that it was Mr Rittenhouse who “initiated” the violence.

“Like moths to a flame, tourists from outside our community were drawn to the chaos here in Kenosha,” Mr Binger told the court. “The evidence will show that hundreds of people were out on the street experiencing chaos and violence, and the only person who killed anyone was the defendant, Kyle Rittenhouse.”