Kyle Rittenhouse, the teen gunman accused of killing two people during Black Lives Matter protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer, made his first in-person court appearance Friday afternoon ahead of his upcoming murder trial.
Dressed in a blue suit, light blue button-down shirt and a black mask, Rittenhouse, now 18, made no comments to the court as his lawyer hammered out trial deadlines with the prosecution team and the judge.
Rittenhouse was 17 years old when he armed himself with assault weapons and traveled 20 miles from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to Kenosha last August so he could “protect businesses” amid days of riots following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
During confrontations with protesters demonstrating against police brutality, Rittenhouse shot and killed Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum and injured Gaige Grosskreutz.
He and his lawyer claim he acted in self-defense while prosecutors have charged him with first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless homicide in the deaths. He’s also facing charges for attempted first-degree homicide, possession of a dangerous weapon while under 18 and reckless endangerment.
Rittenhouse’s attorney told the judge Friday he plans to call a series of expert witnesses to the trial, including “[medical examiner] types” and the state said it will need time to review those speakers and find other witnesses to rebut them.
The trial has been set for November 1. If convicted, Rittenhouse faces life in prison. He remains free on a $2 million bond.
