17-year-old charged after protesters killed
Two killed and one severely injured after shots fired at Wisconsin demonstration
A 17-year-old obsessed with the pro-police Blue Lives Matter movement has been arrested and charged with murder after two people were shot and killed in Wisconsin on Tuesday night. Kyle Rittenhouse was arrested by police in his Illinois home town of Antioch, 15 miles from Kenosha, where violent protests broke after police shot Jacob Blake, a black man, on Sunday. On Tuesday, an armed man shot dead two men during protests, while a third was injured.
A 17-YEAR-OLD self-appointed “militia” member has been charged with murder after two people were shot and killed in Wisconsin on Tuesday night.
Kyle Rittenhouse, who was arrested in his Illinois home town of Antioch, was said to be obsessed with Blue Lives Matter, a counter-movement to the anti-racist Black Lives Matter campaign. It advocates that those who are convicted of killing law enforcement officers should be sentenced under the hate crime statute.
Antioch is 15 miles from Kenosha, where violent protests broke out for three days after police shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man, on Sunday night. Then, on Tuesday, an armed man killed two men, while a third was shot in the arm.
Dan Miskinis, chief of the Kenosha police department, said one victim was a 26-year-old from Silver Lake, Wisconsin, 20 miles outside Kenosha, and the second was a 36-year-old Kenosha resident. The man shot in the arm was 18 and was expected to survive, he said.
Mr Miskinis said the protests on Tuesday night began peacefully “then turned unruly”.
“Persons who were out after curfew got involved in a disturbance, and persons were shot.”
Yesterday, Tony Evers, the Democrat governor of Wisconsin, accepted Donald Trump’s offer to send in federal
forces. Mr Evers had already deployed the National Guard but yesterday spoke to the president and accepted federal assistance.
Mr Trump wrote on Twitter: “Today, I will be sending federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Kenosha to restore law and order.”
Mr Rittenhouse was charged with first-degree intentional homicide. The teenager was caught on camera running from the scene, and reportedly saying into his phone: “I just killed somebody.”
Mr Rittenhouse was charged at 12.30pm local time and an extradition hearing will be held to send him from Illinois to neighbouring Wisconsin.
On Facebook, Mr Rittenhouse is pictured with his AR-15 style gun in Stars and Stripes slippers. Several photos were set on the background of Blue Lives Matter flags and insignia.
One shows him dressed as a safety cadet, a role for youths interested in law enforcement. His Instagram account also has a Blue Lives Matter backdrop but was set to “private” yesterday.
The violence in Kenosha began after the 8pm curfew went into effect.
Mr Blake’s family had earlier appealed for calm and yet protesters still gathered outside the Kenosha County Courthouse, hurling fireworks at police protecting the building.
At 9.20pm, military vehicles entered the area around the courthouse, firing tear gas. At 10pm, around 70 officers in riot gear arrived outside the courthouse and formed a line, having pushed the protesters back.
An hour later protesters were pushed back towards Sheridan Road, where police in armoured vehicles were waiting.
At the petrol station nearby, armed “militia” had gathered to “protect” the property. At 11.45pm, police were called and gunfire was reported.
Social media reports say a white man, identified by The Washington Post as “Ben”, was chased by a white gunman across the forecourt of a used car sales centre, next to a petrol station.
The gunman shot the other man in the head, then ran away. A second man was left lying on the floor, shot and screaming. As the gunman ran away, he was chased by protesters, and was heard on the phone saying: “I just killed somebody.”
One protester hit him in the head, and knocked him to the floor. The gunman then began wildly firing, from the floor. One man had his arm almost severed by the gunfire.
A group of police vehicles advanced on the crowd and the gunman walked toward them and could be seen alternately putting his hands up and touching his gun. As he approached, the vehicles moved away and the gunman gave them a slight wave. Someone in the crowd shouted “Hey, he just shot them,” as the gunman advanced and then disappeared.