Family of man killed at Wisconsin protest sues sheriff, city police
The parents of a man fatally shot during last summer’s violent demonstrations in Kenosha on Tuesday sued authorities, alleging they incited the bloodshed by allowing Kyle Rittenhouse and other armed civilians who clashed with protesters to “mete out punishment as they saw fit.”
The federal lawsuit filed in Milwaukee on behalf of Anthony Huber’s estate seeks unspecified damages against Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth; Daniel Miskinis, the former city of Kenosha police chief; and Eric Larsen, the city’s acting police chief; as well as unnamed officers and deputies.
Last Aug. 25, Rittenhouse traveled to Kenosha from his former home in Antioch, Illinois, and joined numerous individuals armed with rifles who inserted themselves into chaotic demonstrations that raged for three nights in the city just over the Wisconsin border.
They clashed with demonstrators who had assembled after a white Kenosha police officer shot a Black man during a domestic disturbance. The man, Jacob Blake, is paralyzed from the waist down.
Prosecutors said Rittenhouse, at the time 17 and carrying an assault-style rifle, opened fire on Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Huber, 26, of Silver Lake, killing both. A third man, Gaige Grosskreutz, was shot in the arm but survived.
John Huber and Karen Bloom maintain their son, Anthony, who was among demonstrators protesting the police shooting, is a hero who sacrificed his life to protect others. Authorities say Huber, toting his skateboard, was trying to disarm Rittenhouse shortly after the teen shot and killed Rosenbaum.
“At the end of the day, (police) basically decided to turn the streets over to a bunch of armed vigilantes,” said attorney Anand Swaminathan, of the Chicago law firm Loevy & Loevy, who filed the federal lawsuit on behalf of Huber’s estate.
“Bad things are going to happen when you have a bunch of armed, untrained, so-called militia men who have been basically deputized by the police. It really created a serious powder keg situation that was foreseeable.”
The Loevy & Loevy firm immediately released a statement from Huber’s parents as the lawsuit was filed.
“The police are supposed to serve and protect,” said John Huber, the victim’s father, “but that’s not what the Kenosha police did. They walked away from their duties and turned over the streets of Kenosha to Kyle Rittenhouse and other armed vigilantes. If they had done their job, my son would still be alive today.”
Kenosha police did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. Attorney Sam Hall, who represents Beth and Kenosha County, in a statement said: “While we understand that the family of Anthony Huber is grieving his loss, we must make it clear that the allegations ... are demonstrably false and that the facts will show that Mr. Huber’s death was not caused by any actions or inactions of Kenosha County law enforcement.”