Kyle Rittenhouse trial: Jury watches drone video of teenager shooting first protester

In the slowed-down video, Joseph Rosenbaum can be seen following Mr Rittenhouse until the teen spins around and shoots him

A drone video played at Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial on Tuesday showed the moment the teenager shot the first of the two protesters he is accused of murdering.

In the video, which was zoomed in and slowed down by a forensic expert, demonstrator Joseph Rosenbaum can be seen following Mr Rittenhouse until the teen spins around and shoots him. Mr Rosenbaum then falls to the ground, and Mr Rittenhouse runs behind a car.

According to the Associated Press, this was the clearest footage the jury has seen so far of the shooting, after which Mr Rittenhouse shot two more protesters – Gaige Grosskreutz, who was wounded, and Anthony Huber, who died.

Dr Doug Kelley, a forensic pathologist, testified that Mr Rosenbaum was shot four times – in the groin, hand, thigh, and back. Prosecutors have said it was the shot in the back that killed him.

Mr Rittenhouse has been charged with first degree intentional homicide and first degree reckless homicide in the killing of Mr Rosenbaum and Mr Huber. His lawyers are arguing that he shot them in self-defence.

Mr Rosenbaum, they say, was chasing Mr Rittenhouse and trying to grab his gun shortly before he was shot. Witnesses last week bolstered that claim, testifying that on the night of the shootings, Mr Rosenbaum was “hyperaggressive” and “acting belligerently”.

The violence took place on 25 August, 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. At the time, Kenosha was in the midst of raucous protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, and Mr Rittenhouse entered the fray with a gun. His lawyers say he was there to protect local businesses. Prosecutors say he was instigating violence.

“Like moths to a flame, tourists from outside our community were drawn to the chaos here in Kenosha,” Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger has said. “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.”

Mr Rittenhouse’s lawyers say he acted in self-defense.

“Kyle Rittenhouse protected himself,” defense attorney Mark Richards has said, “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.”

If convicted, Mr Rittenhouse could face life in prison.