Kyle Rittenhouse is facing first-degree intentional homicide charges after he allegedly shot and killed two people and wounded a third on Tuesday, but new footage may shed light on his motive and possibly save him from the most severe charge.
Rittenhouse brought his AR-15-style rifle to the scene of riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after police there shot a black man named Jacob Blake during an arrest Sunday, according to USA Today.
Earlier Tuesday evening, the baby-faced 17-year-old from Antioch, Illinois, told Daily Caller journalist Richie McGinniss why he was standing in front of a burned-out auto dealership with a gun.
“People are getting injured and our job is to protect this business, and part of my job is to also help people,” Rittenhouse said.
“If there’s somebody hurt, I’m running into harm’s way. That’s why I have my rifle because I have to protect myself, obviously.”
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I interviewed the alleged shooter before the violence started.
Full video coming soon: pic.twitter.com/G3dVOJozN7
— Richie🎥McG🍿 (@RichieMcGinniss) August 26, 2020
But the teen would later get into a scuffle with other rioters, and despite video evidence from several sources, the circumstances surrounding the shootings remained unclear.
Do you think Kyle Rittenhouse acted in self-defense?
Still, Rittenhouse was slapped with the first-degree intentional homicide charge that could put him in prison for life under Wisconsin law, according to the Chicago Tribune, but one particular angle showed it could actually be a case of self-defense.
Christiaan Triebert from The New York Times tweeted a thread of clips that captured the events that evening, but the first shooting looked like Rittenhouse may have reacted to gunshots.
WARNING: The following video contains graphic language that some viewers will find offensive.
“At 23:19, Rittenhouse is seen in this YouTube livestream,” Triebert captioned the video showing a gunman behind Rittenhouse, who is running. “He’s being chased into a parking lot. While he is being pursued, an unknown gunman fires the first shot into the air.”
“Rittenhouse turns toward the sound of the gunfire as another pursuer lunges toward him,” Triebert continued. “He then fires four times with his assault rifle, and appears to shoot the man in the head.”
Rittenhouse turns toward the sound of the gunfire as another pursuer lunges toward him. He then fires four times with his assault rifle, and appears to shoot the man in the head.
— Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) August 27, 2020
If Rittenhouse fired in self-defense, it could nullify the intentional part of the homicide charge, meaning he committed a lesser crime, if any at all.
Of course, it is difficult to determine what actually was going through his mind and ascertain exactly what his motives might have been, but he was quickly demonized by some as a white supremacist.
Rittenhouse was a fan of President Donald Trump and supported police, according to the Daily Beast, which to sane people indicate that he probably idolized and tried to emulate officers, but of course, will be construed as evidence of his bigotry.
Rittenhouse eventually leaves the dealership (https://t.co/udrONTtQEY) and is barred by the police from returning, as seen @Ruptly footage, six minutes before the shooting: https://t.co/bxzrk75jk8. pic.twitter.com/AredrTnc9Z
— Christiaan Triebert (@trbrtc) August 27, 2020
He lived only 30 minutes from the scene of the riots that nobody at that time seemed interested in stopping and involved himself in the situation instead.
He was foolish to walk into riots holding a conspicuous weapon and in some ways was asking for trouble.
However, with rioters allowed to prowl the streets for unabashed looting, vandalism and arson, it’s possible that Rittenhouse also felt emboldened to ignore good sense and flout the law as well.
Maybe he was trying to help, or maybe he was out looking for trouble, unafraid that he would face any serious consequences — just like the rioters.
These government officials who allow this anarchy to reign should take this as their wake-up call to stop the madness.
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