Teen charged in protest slayings posts bail
KENOSHA, Wis. — A 17-yearold from Illinois charged with killing two people during a protest in Wisconsin and whose case has become a rallying cry for some conservatives posted $2 million bail Friday and was released from custody.
Kyle Rittenhouse is accused of fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz at a demonstration Aug. 25 that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha.
He posted bond through his attorney at 2 p.m., Kenosha County Sheriff’s Sgt. David Wright said.
Rittenhouse, of Antioch, Illinois, told police he was attacked while he was guarding a business and that he fired in selfdefense.
He faces multiple charges, including intentional homicide, reckless endangerment and being a minor in possession of a firearm. Wisconsin law doesn’t permit minors to carry or possess a gun unless they’re hunting. He is due back in court Dec. 3 for a preliminary hearing.
His case has taken on political overtones. Supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement have painted Rittenhouse as a trigger-happy white supremacist.
Conservatives upset over property destruction during recent protests have portrayed him as a patriot exercising his right to bear arms during unrest. A legal defense fund for him has attracted millions of dollars in donations, and his mother got a standing ovation from women at a Waukesha County GOP function in September.
Huber’s father, John Huber, asked Kenosha County Circuit Court Commissioner Loren Keating during a hearing Nov. 2 to set Rittenhouse’s bail between $4 million and $10 million.
Keating ultimately set bail at $2 million, saying Rittenhouse was a flight risk given the seriousness of the charges against him.