Disturbing new footage has emerged which appears to show the police-obsessed gunman charged with the murder of two Black Live Matter protesters in Kenosha shooting dead his first victim before running away.
Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, was arrested on Wednesday at his home in Antioch, Illinois, some 20 miles from Kenosha, where riots over the shooting of Jacob Blake have been raging now for four nights. He is accused of killing two people at the protests on Tuesday night while trying to ‘defend’ the city.
On Wednesday Police Chief Daniel Miskinis appeared to blame Tuesday night’s violence on people breaking the curfew, telling a press conference: ‘Last night, in a situation that began peaceful and turned somewhat unruly … persons who were out after the curfew became engaged in some type of disturbance and persons were shot. Had persons not been out involved in violation of that, perhaps the situation that unfolded would not have happened.’
Videos from Tuesday night’s protests had already shown a gunman, later identified as Rittenhouse, being tailed by protesters as he ran down a street. The videos show the gunman stumbling and falling before firing three of four shots hitting at least two people.
Now a new earlier clip appears to shed light on how the ordeal unfolded after one man was shot in the head outside a nearby auto garage. The victim is pictured on the ground while the gunman stands nearby.
The video show the gunman running away in the moments after the gunshots rang out. He could be heard saying: ‘I’ve just killed somebody.’
It is then the second and third shootings, seen in the initial video shared widely Wednesday, are thought to have happened after protesters chased the gunman.
The two men who were killed were Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha, and Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake, about 15 miles west of the city. The wounded person, Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, of West Allis, about 30 miles northwest of Kenosha, was expected to survive, police said.
Disturbing new footage has emerged which appears to show the police-obsessed gunman, left, charged with the murder of two BLM protesters in Kenosha shooting dead his first victim before running away
Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, was arrested on Wednesday at his home in Antioch, Illinois, some 20 miles from Kenosha, where riots over the shooting of Jacob Blake have been raging now for four nights. He is believed to be circled left in the left image and right the right image
Rittenhouse is accused of killing two people at the protests on Tuesday night while trying to ‘defend’ the city. The gunman and his victim are circled red in footage from Tuesday evening
Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, has been charged with first degree intentional homicide following the shooting death of two protesters in Kenosha on Tuesday. Social media photos show the teen had a strong admiration for law enforcement and guns
Facebook removes ‘Kenosha Guard’ militia group with 3,000 members asking ‘patriots to take up arms and defend our city tonight from the evil thugs’
Facebook on Wednesday launched an investigation into a group called ‘Kenosha Guard,’ containing 3,000 members, after it had promoted an event encouraging armed civilians to take to the streets to defend the city on Tuesday.
The militia group had hosted an event titled, ‘Armed Citizens to Protect our Lives and Property’, according to screen grabs obtained by The Verge.
‘Any patriots willing to take up arms and defend our city tonight from the evil thugs?’ the group said in a post.
‘No doubt they are currently planning on the next part of the city to burn tonight.’
In a statement to the website, Facebook confirmed it had deleted the group for violating its policy, but said it had not found any evidence linking Rittenhouse to the group or event.
‘At this time, we have not found evidence on Facebook that suggests the shooter followed the Kenosha Guard Page or that he was invited on the Event Page they organized,’ the company said.
‘However, the Kenosha Guard Page and their Event Page violated our new policy addressing militia organizations and have been removed on that basis.’
A member of the group also told The Verge it was unaware if the shooter ‘was answering the Kenosha Guard Militia’s call to arms.’
‘Just like with the shooting of Jacob Blake, we need all the facts and evidence to come out before we make a judgement. God Bless and stay safe Kenosha!’ the statement said.
The shooting of father-of-six Blake 29, had sparked the protests in the city against police brutality and racism. He was struck from behind at point-blank range in a hail of bullets fired on Sunday by police who were following him with guns drawn as he walked away from officers to his car and opened a door to the vehicle.
Three of his young sons inside the automobile – aged three, five and eight – witnessed their father being gunned down, according to civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represents the Blake family.
His shooting comes three months after the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis.
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on Thursday authorized the deployment of 500 members of the National Guard to Kenosha, doubling the number of troops in the city of 100,000.
Guard troops from Arizona, Michigan and Alabama were coming to Wisconsin to assist, Evers said Thursday. He did not say how many.
In Washington, the Justice Department said it was sending in more than 200 federal agents from the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The White House said up to 2,000 National Guard troops would be made available.
The Justice Department also announced that the U.S. attorney’s office and FBI would conduct a civil rights investigation into the shooting of Blake, in cooperation with Wisconsin state law enforcement agencies.
In a another clip from Tuesday night onlookers were filmed desperately trying to put pressure on the injured man’s head wound with a t-shirt as they yelled: ‘We’ve got to keep him alive’ and ‘put pressure, put pressure.’
It is not yet clear what happened in the lead up to the initial shooting but police fear it may have stemmed from a conflict at a gas station between ‘self-styled militias’ defending local businesses from looters.
Separate videos that captured the other two shootings showed a group of protesters tailing the gunman as he ran down the middle of the street. Someone in the crowd can be heard asking ‘What did he do?’ and another responds that the man had shot someone.
The videos show the gunman stumbling and falling in the street before one pursuer took a flying kick at him, while another appeared to strike him with a skateboard.
The gunman fired three of four shots from a seated position, hitting at least two people, including one who fell over clutching his chest and another who stumbled away putting pressure on his arm, according to the videos.
As the crowd scattered, the shooter stood up and continued walking down the street as police cars arrived.
He then walks towards police vehicles with his hands in the air as other protesters yelled at the cops to arrest him, claiming he’d just shot two people.
The teenager was not arrested until the following day and is in now custody, charged as an adult.
On Tuesday, shortly before Rittenhouse opened fire, he gave an interview to right-wing news outlet The Daily Caller.
Armed with a rifle slung across his body, the teen, who in January sat front row at a Trump rally in Des Moines, Iowa, told the reporter he was a certified EMT and explained he was patrolling the streets of Kenosha to provide medical attention to anyone in need and was helping protect local businesses from looters and rioters.
‘People are getting injured. Our job is to protect this business and part of my job is to also help people,’ Rittenhouse said of his militia.
‘If there’s somebody hurt, I’m running into harm’s way,’ added Rittenhouse, who was seen earlier guarding a local car shop with a group of armed militia members.
‘That’s why I have my rifle because I can protect myself, obviously. I also have my medkit.’
He also claimed he had been ‘de-escalating’ a potentially violent situation earlier in the night, during which he and the rest of his vigilante crew ordered protesters to leave a church that they had targeted.
When asked if the outcome would have been different if police officers responded to the scene instead, Rittenhouse replied: ‘I feel like there would be a lot more casualties and a lot more people injured.’
‘So I think the police are fine where they’re at and [should] let us run the medical, because EMS is not coming in’, he continued. ‘Us citizens, we need to help each other.’
Blake, who is a father of six, is now in a stable condition in hospital after undergoing surgery
A new earlier clip appears to shed light on how the ordeal unfolded after one man was shot in the head outside a nearby auto garage. The victim is pictured on the ground on the left while the gunman stands nearby
The videos showed the gunman running away in the moments after the gunshots rang out and he could be heard saying: ‘I’ve just killed somebody.’ It is then the second and third shootings, seen in the initial video, are thought to have happened after protesters chased the gunman.
Cellphone videos from the scene in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday night show a white man brandishing a semi-automatic rifle in a confrontation with demonstrators following a shooting just moments earlier where a man was shot in the head. Protesters chased the gunman down the street before one kicked him to the ground
Another man could be seen hitting the gunman over the head with a skateboard before struggling with the gunman as gunshots rang out and people fled from the scene
The gunman appeared to fire a shot at the man brandishing the skateboard while he was still lying on the ground. The man who initially kicked the gunman to the ground can be seen running (right) as the gunshots broke out
The man with the skateboard stumbled away from the gunman clutching his chest (right) as another man appeared to put his hands up in front of the shooter
Anthony Huber has been identified as one of the men who was shot dead during the protests on Tuesday night
In a press conference addressing the shooting, Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth told reporters it was possible the gunman was part of an armed militia that had earlier asked the department if they could become part of the police force to help protect the city. In Wisconsin, it is legal for people 18 and over to openly carry a gun without a license but it is not legal for anyone under 18 to own a gun.
Beth said: ‘And I’m like, ‘Oh, hell no.’ What happened last night is the perfect reason why I wouldn’t.’
The sheriff called it a ‘scary thought’ that untrained members of the public might ever be given the same duties or privileges as police.
‘Oh, hell no. What a scary, scary thought that would be in my world,’ he said.
But footage from the night shows police thanking a group of armed militia that Rittenhouse was a part of and giving them water.
‘We appreciate you being here,’ an officer was heard saying to the group over a loudspeaker.
The sheriff later defended officers by saying, ‘Our deputies would toss water to anybody.’
In a photograph posted by his mother, Wendy Rittenhouse, he is wearing what appears to be a blue law enforcement uniform as well as the kind of brimmed hat that state troopers wear.
Records show that in January 2017 his mom claimed a classmate of her son’s had been calling him ‘dumb’ and ‘stupid’ and threatening him as she sought an order of protection from police.
Police-obsessed gunman, Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, charged with murder of two BLM protesters during Kenosha riots sat front row at a Trump MAGA rally at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa in January this year
Much of Rittenhouse’s Facebook is devoted to praising law enforcement, with references to Blue Lives Matter – the movement that supports police. He also previously participated in a youth public safety cadet program (right), according to social media