Murder charges for teen in Wis. protest shootings
An Illinois teen was charged with first-degree intentional homicide Wednesday after the shooting deaths of two people during protests that have rocked Kenosha, Wis.
Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, Ill., faces the charge in the neighboring state, according to a fugitive-of-justice complaint filed in Lake County, Ill.
The shooting took place during chaotic unrest in the small Wisconsin city that followed the shocking caught-on-video police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man.
The brutal police shooting has triggered nightly protests. On Tuesday, demonstrators defied an 8 p.m. city curfew. The curfew was bumped up to 7 p.m. for Wednesday.
Videos posted to social media showed a frenzied scene on the streets of Kenosha late Tuesday and early Wednesday. Clips captured the sound of gunfire, and people scattering. A young man toting a long gun could be heard in one video saying, “I just killed somebody.”
Kenosha cops said they responded to a shooting with multiple victims about 11:45 p.m. local time Tuesday.
In addition to two deaths, a third shooting victim was taken to a hospital with serious but non-life-threatening wounds, according to the Kenosha Police Department.
Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said in a Wednesday news conference a 26year-old resident of Silver Lake, Wis., and a 36-year-old from Kenosha had died. He didn’t release their names.
Rittenhouse is a YMCA lifeguard who stands 5feet-8, weighs about 150 pounds and is white, according to court papers reviewed by the Daily News. He was spotted in the front row at a President Trump rally in Iowa in January, and he has frequently published “Blue Lives Matter” posts to social media, BuzzFeed News reported.
Rittenhouse appeared in bond court in Lake County on Wednesday morning. He is due back in court Friday for an extradition hearing, according to digital court records.
The village of Antioch is about 20 miles southwest of Kenosha, on the border between Illinois and Wisconsin.
Antioch officials said the local police department worked with Kenosha authorities in the arrest, and that the teen was in the custody of the Lake County judicial system pending the extradition hearing.
“Our village of Antioch is deeply saddened by all loss of life,” Mayor Lawrence Hanson said in a statement. “Our hearts and prayers extend to the friends and family who lost a loved one.”
The shooting of Blake left the father of six paralyzed — but rippled far beyond Kenosha, a city of 100,000 on the shores of Lake Michigan, becoming the latest flashpoint in a series of police shootings of Black men in the U.S. Kenosha is about 80% white.
During protests around the city over three nights, cars and buildings have smoldered and businesses have been ransacked. After the deadly shooting, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said in a statement, “We as a state are mourning.”
Trump said his team had spoken by phone with Evers, and that he was sending the National Guard into Kenosha.
Blake was shot in the back Sunday as he attempted to get into his car. After bedlam descended on the streets of Kenosha, his family called for calm.
“As I was riding through here, through the city, I noticed a lot of damage, it doesn’t reflect my son or my family,” Julia Jackson, Blake’s mother, said in an emotional news conference Tuesday. “If Jacob knew what was going on as far as that goes — the violence and the destruction — he would be very unpleased. So I’m really asking and encouraging everyone in Wisconsin and abroad to take a moment and examine your hearts.”