Rifle used by Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha shootings to be destroyed
KENOSHA, WIS. >> A judge on Friday approved an agreement by lawyers to destroy the assault-style rifle that Kyle Rittenhouse used to kill two people and wound a third during a 2020 street protest in Wisconsin.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said the state crime lab would destroy the gun, probably in April. Judge Bruce Schroeder, the Kenosha County judge who presided over Rittenhouse’s trial, approved the agreement. Rittenhouse was not in court for Friday’s hearing.
The judge also ordered that Rittenhouse’s $2 million bail be divided among his attorney, a foundation that solicited donations for his defense and actor Ricky Schroder, who donated to the defense fund.
Rittenhouse shot the men during the protest in Kenosha in 2020. He killed Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz in the arm. Rittenhouse argued he fired in self-defense after each of the men attacked him. A jury last year acquitted him of multiple charges, including homicide.
Rittenhouse’s attorney, Mark Richards, filed a motion Jan. 19 asking prosecutors to return Rittenhouse’s rifle, his ammunition, his face mask and other clothing he was wearing the night of the shooting to him. Richards and David Hancock, a spokesman for Rittenhouse, said last week that Rittenhouse, who is now 19, wanted to destroy the rifle and throw the rest of the items away so nothing can be used as a political symbol or trophy celebrating the shootings.
“We didn’t think anyone should profit from it,” Richards told reporters after the hearing. Asked if anyone had reached out about purchasing the gun, Richards responded: “Lots of people.” He didn’t elaborate.
Destruction of the gun will be recorded as part of the agreement that was approved Friday. The rest of Rittenhouse’s property has already been returned to him, Binger told the judge.
Conservatives across the nation have praised Rittenhouse, saying he was defending Kenosha from far-left militants. Liberals have painted him as a trigger-happy vigilante.
The judge on Friday also ordered county officials to return Rittenhouse’s $2 million bail. His attorneys raised the money through donations from conservatives across the country.
The judge approved an agreement that calls for splitting the money between Richards’ law firm and the #Fightback Foundation. Attorneys Lin Wood and John Pierce, who were representing Rittenhouse in the early days of case, formed the foundation to raise money for him. The agreement also calls for sending $150,000 to Schroder, the former star of the TV series “Silver Spoons.”