While the liberal media was busy prosecuting Kyle Rittenhouse of murder before the juror found him not guilty on all counts, DailyMail.com continued to dig deeper, breaking stories to get to the bottom of the events of August 25, 2020.
Over the course of the trial, DailyMail.com revealed how the prosecution withheld evidence, the chilling content of the death threats received by the judge and the true character of the state’s ‘star witness’ who they tried to paint as a hero.
And while many are surprised at the verdict, those watching the trial closely will see that the prosecution was doomed from the start, with DailyMail.com revealing that even the Kenosha District Attorney passed the case off to his ADA Thomas Binger because he knew it was a losing proposition.
Below are DailyMail.com’s top exclusive stories from the trial that help tell the story of the high-profile Kenosha shooter case that has divided the nation and sparked days of protests.
Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all counts on Friday
Prosecution withheld evidence
Prosecutors in the Kenosha shooter trial withheld evidence from the defense that was ‘at the center of their case,’ only sharing the high-definition drone video footage on which they have hung their prosecution after the trial had concluded, DailyMail.com revealed.
Prosecutors in the Kenosha shooter trial withheld evidence from the defense that was ‘at the center of their case,’ DailyMail.com revealed. Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger initially shared low quality drone footage from the night of he shooting with the defense
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger played the enhanced drone footage to the jury during his closing statements and claimed that it showed Rittenhouse ‘pointing his gun’ at people – an assertion that opened the door to the state claiming Rittenhouse provoked the violence of the night of August 25, 2020.
But in the motion obtained by DailyMail.com, Rittenhouse’s defense insisted that the state only shared it with the defense after evidence had closed on Saturday November 13.
This is one just one of the grounds on which they made a motion for a mistrial with prejudice filed by Kyle Rittenhouse’s defense Monday afternoon.
According to the motion, ‘On November 5, 2021, the fifth day of trial on this case, the prosecution turned over to the defense footage of a drone video which captured some of the incident from August 25, 2020.
‘The problem is the prosecution gave the defense a compressed version of the video. What that means is the video provided to the defense was not as clear as the video kept by the state.’
The motion goes onto explain that the file size of the defense video is just 3.6MB while the prosecution’s is 11.2MB.
The motion states that this larger file was not provided to the defense ‘until after the trial concluded’
It reads, ‘During the jury instructions conference, the defense played their version of the video for the court to review. The state indicated their version was much clearer and had their tech person come into court to have the court review their clearer video. The video is the same, the resolution of that video, however, was not.’
The motion states, ‘As it relates to the compressed drone footage. The prosecution should be required to explain to the court why they did not copy the footage for the defendant with the same quality as their copy
‘The video footage has been at the center of this case. The idea that the state would provide lesser quality footage and then use that footage as a linchpin in their case is the very reason they requested and were granted the provocation instruction by the Court.’
Prosecution’s star witness is a career criminal
The prosecution’s star witness in the Kyle Rittenhouse case had a criminal charge dismissed just six days before the trial’s start, meaning the jury had no insight into his extensive criminal record nor his history of lying to police, DailyMail.com revealed.
Gaige Grosskreutz, 28, was shot by Kyle Rittenhouse in August 2020, and appeared as the prosecution’s star witness last week. He was the only one who survived being shot by Rittenhouse that night
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger was well aware of this when he paraded Gaige Grosskreutz, 28, the third man shot on the night of August 25, 2020, as a paragon of selfless virtue. He was a paramedic, the court heard, just there that evening to provide medical aid, as he claimed to have done at countless other protests across the country.
In fact, DailyMail.com learned, he is a violent career criminal with a laundry list of prior offenses and convictions stretching back more than a decade.
These include domestic abuse, prowling, trespass, two DUIs, felony burglary and two charges of carrying a firearm while intoxicated – one of which took place when he was banned as a felon from carrying a firearm.
He also has a history of showing disdain for the law by lying to, and failing to co-operate with, police.
Grosskreutz is seen in bodycam footage being pulled over on October 6, 2020 – less than two months after being shot by Kyle Rittenhouse
But the Rittenhouse jury heard none of this.
Because just six days before he took the stand, Grosskreutz was before a judge himself at a hearing at which a pending DUI charge – a second offense that saw him three times over the legal limit – was dismissed on a technicality.
Grosskreutz’s attorney successfully filed a Motion to Suppress Evidence on the basis that the traffic stop from which it had been obtained had been unlawful.
Police pulled Grosskreutz over on October 6, 2020, for failure to use a signal but under Wisconsin law if there is no other vehicle present a signal is not necessary.
Vile emails sent to judge include threats to ‘spit directly into his face’ and ‘payback’ against his children
The judge presiding over the Kyle Rittenhouse trial was slammed as a racist and had his life threatened in a torrent of abusive and menacing emails, letters, postcards and faxes received by Kenosha County Courthouse and seen by DailyMail.com
On Thursday Judge Bruce Schroeder revealed that he had been sent offensive emails during the trial, some calling him a racist
DailyMail.com reviewed the hundreds of offensive communications sent to Judge Bruce Schroeder, and today we can reveal the extraordinary outpouring of vitriol that the high-profile trial has inspired.
One email, sent last week, reads simply, ‘Wow way to name a white skinhead hot head to be a judge. No wonder they burn down your city.’
Others calls for the ‘racist’ judge, the longest serving in the county, to be dismissed and disbarred.
One addressed to ‘Your Honor’ reads, ‘I didn’t know that under your black robes of justice you wear a white robe of the klan. There is no way a fair trial can be heard under your supervision. Better yet, resign.’
Among the most disturbing messages to the judge was one that threatens the lives of the judge’s children, promises ‘pay back,’ and states that Rittenhouse ‘won’t live long’ if acquitted.
The email, much of which is too offensive to reproduce, states the hope that one day Judge Schroeder’s ‘kids become victims to the most heinous homicide known to man so he feels the pain an [sic]we will call his kids not victims but b******s.’
It is one of a deluge of hate-filled missives that were sent as a direct response to the judge’s ruling last month that prosecutors could not refer to Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz – the men shot by Rittenhouse – as ‘victims.’
Meanwhile he permitted the defense to use the terms ‘looters’ and ‘rioters’ when describing the events of the night of August 25, 2020, when Rittenhouse shot the three men during a night of BLM protests and rioting.
One email addressed to ‘Your Honor’ reads, ‘I didn’t know that under your black robes of justice you wear a white robe of the klan
Another reads, ‘Enjoy your term, judge, it’s going to be your LAST. If I ever meet you in person, I fully intend to spit directly into your face’
Among the most disturbing is one that threatens the lives of the judge’s children, promises ‘pay back,’ and states that Rittenhouse ‘won’t live long’ if acquitted
The unrest flared last summer in the wake of a Kenosha police shooting of black man, Jacob Blake. It was in Blake’s name that some of the people present marched across three nights that descended into violence during which Kenosha burned.
Another sinister email sent in reaction to the October ruling reads, ‘This is outrageous…What fresh hell is this???? Rittenhouse is a murderous thug and trying to protect him says a LOT about this judge.
‘We are watching.’
It continues, ‘Enjoy your term, judge, it’s going to be your LAST. If I ever meet you in person, I fully intend to spit directly into your face, regardless the cost. You’re disgusting.’
The emailer signs off, as many do, using his full name.
‘Jump-kick man’ who kicked Rittenhouse in the face is a career criminal
A career criminal and convicted felon with an open domestic violence charge has claimed to be the unidentified male at whom Kyle Rittenhouse shot twice at close range but missed, on the night of August 25, 2020.
Maurice Freeland, 39, has admitted that he was the one who kicked Rittenhouse in the head
Rittenhouse was charged with First Degree Recklessly Endangering Safety of the man known in trial only as ‘jump-kick man,’ for the flying kick he took at the teenager’s head as Rittenhouse was attacked minutes after he shot Joseph Rosenbaum dead.
Maurice Freeland, 39, admitted that he was the one who kicked Rittenhouse in the head and narrowly avoided being shot as a result, after the then 17-year-old stumbled to the ground as he attempted to flee.
The state has painted all these actors, including those Rittenhouse killed and injured, as heroes attempting to take down an ‘active shooter.’
It emerged that the same is true of ‘jump-kick man’ who was on bond that night for an alleged assault on his girlfriend that included kicking her in the ribcage having thrown her to the floor.
DailyMail.com already revealed that both Huber and Grosskreutz have lengthy and violent criminal histories, with the latter having a history of lying to police.
DailyMail.com revealed that the man he painted a hero was out on bond having been charged with Battery Domestic Abuse, Criminal Damage to Property Domestic Abuse and Disorderly Conduct Domestic Abuse for an incident that took place on March 23, 2020.
Court records obtained by DailyMail.com detail the night in question – a night during which Freeland and his partner Monalisa N McDuffie had both been drinking.
Police responded to a call about ‘family trouble,’ at approximately 12.19am.
Rittenhouse has been charged with First Degree Recklessly Endangering Safety of the man known in trial only as ‘jump-kick man,’ for the flying kick he took at the teenager’s head as Rittenhouse was attacked minutes after he shot Joseph Rosenbaum dead
Kenosha District Attorney knew the case was a losing proposition and passed the buck to his ADA Thomas Binger
Mike Graveley, the Kenosha County DA would normally have taken the case himself, but instead handed it down to assistant DA Thomas Binger, whose presentation of the case in Wisconsin has been marked with missteps and clashes with Judge Bruce Schroeder.
Binger, 51, a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School is no rookie. He has been an assistant DA in Kenosha County since 2014, and first prosecuted cases in Milwaukee County back in 1999
‘Binger was set up for failure,’ one Kenosha legal insider told Dailymail.com. ‘Graveley is the superstar and he knew this one was sure to tarnish it.’
According to conservative outlet Milwaukee Right Now, Graveley ‘pawned the case off to his unfortunate assistant district attorney, Thomas Binger, who was left to spin gold out of a pile of self-defense straw.’
‘He has said things in court that have been ruled out of order, but once they have been said, you can’t unring that bell,’ Kevin Mathewson, a criminal defense investigator and former Kenosha City alderman told DailyMail.com.
‘This is how Binger has always operated. He pushes the envelope as far as he possibly can — but this time the whole world is watching him.’
Mathewson, who was unsuccessfully sued over a Facebook page in which he asked for people to turn up with guns to defend property during the August 2020 Kenosha riots, has been a frequent critic of Graveley’s office.
But he says he respects the DA’s prosecuting skills. ‘He is by far the best prosecutor in the office and he should be the one prosecuting the Rittenhouse trial — the most high-profile and difficult case his office is ever likely to handle.
‘It’s not that he hides from publicity. Earlier this year he prosecuted a teenager called Martice Fuller who killed his high school sweetheart and shot at her mother.
‘That was a high-profile case, but it wasn’t a difficult case to prosecute,’ added Mathewson. ‘There was video of the shooting.
‘Just about any prosecutor could have got a conviction.’
Mike Graveley, the Kenosha County DA, would normally have taken the case himself, but instead handed it down to prosecutor Thomas Binger. ‘It’s time to put DA Mike Graveley’s picture on a milk carton,’ wrote Milwaukee Right Now
Mathewson is not the only one who is hammering Graveley for his absence from the Rittenhouse case. Graveley himself said he would not lead the prosecution as he was investigating the case against the cop who shot Joseph Blake, leading to the unrest in Kenosha during which Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber.
Gravely — who was named Wisconsin’s prosecutor of the year earlier this month — decided way back in January that the officer should not be prosecuted for the shooting which left Blake paralyzed. The DA also said he has to prosecute another case which will likely start before the Rittenhouse case is over.
But those excuses are getting short shrift from some, who believe Rittenhouse either should never have been prosecuted or should have faced lesser charges.
‘It’s time to put DA Mike Graveley’s picture on a milk carton,’ wrote Milwaukee Right Now.
Anti Kyle Rittenhouse protestor was once charged with making terrorist threats against his former high school
The young man arrested after scuffling with a Kyle Rittenhouse supporter outside the courthouse was once charged with making terrorist threats against his former high school.
Anthony Chacon, 20, was arrested Wednesday outside the Kenosha Courthouse and now facing charges of battery, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest
Anthony Chacon, 20, is now facing charges of battery, disorderly conduct and resisting arrest following his latest run-in with the law.
But the day before school re-opened in September 2019 he posted a picture of himself pointing a gun on Snapshot, along with a message threatening Westosha Central High School in Paddock Lake, Wisconsin.
He used the N-word in his threat, according to court documents obtained by DailyMail.com.
‘Young n***a gon hop ina gym shoot everything but the rim,’ Chacon — who is white according to his police booking details — allegedly wrote. The words come from Till The End, a rap song by YNW Melly.
The case was eventually dismissed and Chacon pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disorderly conduct.
Chacon, who now lives in Kenosha, was one of two people arrested Wednesday as tempers frayed outside the city’s courthouse. The second, Shaquita Cornelious, 34, whose Facebook page describes her as the co-chairman of Black Lives Matter of Lake County, Illinois, was charged with disorderly conduct.
Video taken by DailyMail.com showed Chacon, wearing a F**k Kyle T-shirt, Simpsons backpack, and Chicago Bulls beanie, clashing with prominent Rittenhouse supporter Emily Cahill on the courthouse steps.
The two traded X-rated insults before Chacon threw a sign at Cahill. He and fellow anti-Rittenhouse protestors tried to wrestle the sign back and as he was being pulled off Cahill, he sucker-punched a reporter in the jaw.
Chacon is seen wearing a Chicago Bulls hat and holding up a sign outside the courthouse, demanding Rittenhouse be convicted
Chacon is pictured on Wednesday being arrested by Kenosha police following the scuffle
Other protestors tried unsuccessfully to lead Chacon away and calm him down, but he then went on to strike several other people — including a DailyMail.com photographer — before being pinned to the ground and hauled away in a paddywagon.
He was heard calling for his mom as the vehicle pulled away.
The flurry of violence came after supporters of both sides had been sharing pizza as they awaited the verdict for the second day.
Chacon is no stranger to the courts. He has a record of being charged with minor offences. In September last year, he and his girlfriend Rachael Randle got in a fight at their Kenosha apartment that spilled out into the street.
A woman flagged down two cops to tell them that Chacon and Randle were ‘holding knives and attempting to stab one another.
The witness said Randle ran up the staircase but Chacon caught her and threw her down the stairs. Randle told police the fight started after she tried to evict Chacon from her apartment.
‘Ms. Randle stated that (Chacon) yelled at her with his fists clenched in an aggressive manner,’ the police report said. The only visible injury that Randle received was ‘a small cut on her forehead along the hairline.’
That case has not yet been resolved.
In another case also still to be resolved, he was charged with battery in December last year after allegedly getting involved in a fight between two cousins over a woman.
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Read more at DailyMail.co.uk