Extradition hearing delayed for suspect in shootings
KENOSHA, Wis. — A judge postponed a decision Friday on whether a 17yearold should be returned to Wisconsin to face charges in the killing of two people on the streets of Kenosha during unrest following the police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake.
The Illinois judge granted Kyle Rittenhouse’s request to delay the extradition hearing to Sept. 25 during a brief hearing that was streamed online. Rittenhouse, who is being held, did not appear.
Blake’s shooting — which left him paralyzed and was caught on cell phone video — sparked protests in Kenosha, making it the latest focus in a reckoning over racial injustice that has gripped the country since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. The Wisconsin Senate will hold a special session Monday to address a package of police reform measures.
Blake is no longer shackled to his hospital bed, as he had been following the shooting, his attorneys said Friday. Blake’s father told the Chicago SunTimes that he was upset to learn his son was handcuffed to his hospital bed in Milwaukee since he’s paralyzed and can’t go anywhere.
The Milwaukee County Sheriff ’s Office said in a statement that all hospitalized patients in police custody are restrained unless undergoing medical procedures. Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers responded “hell, yes,” when asked during a news conference whether he was concerned about Blake being handcuffed. The governor said Blake had already paid a “horrific price.”
On Tuesday, the third night of protests over Blake’s shooting, Rittenhouse, a white teen who was armed with a semiautomatic rifle, was recorded as he walked Kenosha’s streets with other armed civilians, saying he was protecting businesses from vandalism. Prosecutors have accused him of killing two men — Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26 — who tried to disarm him and wounding a third, Gaige Grosskreutz, 26.
His lawyers have argued he was acting in selfdefense.
Rittenhouse was taken into custody on Wednesday in his hometown of Antioch, Ill., about 15 miles from Kenosha. He would face a mandatory life sentence if convicted of firstdegree homicide, the most serious charge. Under Wisconsin law, anyone 17 or older is treated as an adult in the criminal justice system.
Assistant public defender Jennifer Snyder asked for a delay in the extradition hearing so her client would have time to hire a private attorney.
Lee Filas, spokesman for the Lake County, Ill., state’s attorney, declined to comment on whether other charges were being considered for anyone who may have acted as an accomplice to Rittenhouse.