Trump defends supporter accused of shooting 2 dead
... but President decries the killing of another fan as ‘disgraceful’
DoNAlD Trump has defended a teenage supporter accused of shooting dead two Black lives Matter protesters.
The President fanned the flames of unrest in Wisconsin by claiming Rightwing vigilante Kyle Rittenhouse may have been acting in self-defence.
But in contrast, Mr Trump then described the killing of another fan following clashes with anti-racism demonstrators in oregon as ‘disgraceful’.
The President arrived in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last night to assess the aftermath of days of violence.
The city saw protests turn to looting and arson after a white officer shot an unarmed black father seven times in the back. But ahead of his visit, Mr Trump defended 17-year-old supporter Rittenhouse – who had shot three protesters, two of them fatally.
Mobile phone footage from Kenosha last week showed the teenage vigilante wandering the streets with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle as part of the ‘Kenosha Guard’ who answered a Facebook call for ‘patriots’ to protect businesses.
He allegedly shot one man who threw a plastic bag at him in a car park as and he was then running another away. after falling
Mr Trump told a White House press conference: ‘That was an interesting situation, you saw the same tape as I saw, and he was trying to get away from them, I guess, it looks like. And he fell, and then they very violently attacked him. I guess he was in very big trouble, he probably would have been killed.’ Father- of- one Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, was shot and killed first, after following Rittenhouse to a car park, according to court papers. Mr Rosenbaum threw a plastic bag at the gunman and attempted to take the weapon from him but was shot in the head.
Anthony Huber, 26, then saw Rittenhouse running away and tackled him with just his skateboard, only to be shot in the chest.
However, after defending the gunman in Kenosha, Mr Trump then condemned the death of one of his supporters, Aaron Danielson who, was killed in Portland on Saturday. Mr Danielson was shot in the streets following a Trump rally. The President said: ‘[They] shot a young gentleman and killed him – not with paint, but with a bullet. And I think it’s disgraceful.’
The racially- charged protests are the latest to hit America since the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in May.
But Mr Trump told Fox News that Democratic presidential
‘People in the dark shadows’
rival Joe Biden was having his ‘strings’ pulled by ‘people you have never heard of, people in the dark shadows’.
Challenged about his ‘conspiracy theory’, he said: ‘They are people that are on the streets, people who are controlling the streets.
‘We had somebody get on a plane from a certain city, this weekend. And in the plane it was almost completely loaded with thugs wearing these dark uniforms, black uniforms, with gear and this and that. They’re on a plane.’