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[UPDATE] Teen Involved In Kenosha Shooting, Kyle Rittenhouse Released On $2M Bond
The 17 year-old -- who faces murder charges in the Aug. 25 shooting during Black Lives Matter protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin -- was released on a $2 million bond Friday. His release at 2 p.m. Friday was confirmed by the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department.
The bond was handled by his attorney, according to the Sheriff’s spokesman, Officer Sgt. David Wright. His judge explained earlier this month that the teen’s high bail was a reflection of the “incredibly serious” charges.
Rittenhouse has been hit with intentional, reckless and attempted homicide charges along with felony reckless endangerment and possession of a weapon by a person under the age of 18.
Lin Wood, one of Rittenhouse’s lawyers, posted a photo on Twitter shortly before 9 p.m. Friday, writing, "FREE AT LAST!!! Thank you, All Donors. Thank you, All Patriots. Thank God Almighty. #FightBack ." Rittenhouse posed in the photo with one of his lawyers John Pierce and NYPD Blue actor Ricky Schroder. My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell and Schroder both apparently helped to foot the bill for the bond.
Rittenhouse claims he acted in self-defense when he shot and killed protesters Anthony Huber, 26, and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and wounded a third man.
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Daily Caller reporter Richie McGinniss witnessed the shooting that killed 2 and wounded 1 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during the Black Lives Matter riots that broke out following the Jacob Blake shooting.
Kyle Rittenhouse, 17 year-old boy from Antioch, Illinois, has been arrested after he allegedly shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and injured Gaige Grosskreutz, 26.
McGinniss was about twelve feet behind the rioters as they chased Rittenhouse just moments before the shooting.
Recounting the incident on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight Friday, McGinniss began, “What I saw was [Joseph] Rosenbaum pursuing Rittenhouse, and Rittenhouse turned around. Right before he turned around, I’m not sure if this is the reason he turned around, but there was a gun shot. That’s actually visible on video.”
It is not clear if this initial gun shot was fired into the air or towards Rittenhouse, and police has not confirmed who exactly fired the shot. Eyewitnesses confirmed that some of the rioters had pistols with them.
“I took one or two steps to my right, right as Rosenbaum was lunging for the barrel of the[Rittenhouse's] rifle,” McGinniss explained.
He recalled that Rittenhouse actually moved the barrel of the rifle to dodge Rosembaum’s attempt to grab it. At this point, Rittenhouse fired four shots, and the attacker began to fall.
McGinniss said he attempted to provide whatever aid he could to Rosembaum. He said that he initially thought Rittenhouse had run away, but he came back and pulled out his phone to call 9-1-1. before he left.
In a statement provided to the Gateway Pundit, by Rittenhouse’s legal team at Pierce Bainbridge, they explained that “after Kyle finished his work that day as a community lifeguard in Kenosha, he wanted to help clean up some of the damage, so he and a friend went to the local public high school to remove graffiti by rioters.”
“Later in the day, they received information about a call for help from a local business owner, whose downtown Kenosha auto dealership was largely destroyed by mob violence,” the statement continues. “Business owner needed help to protect what he had left of his life’s work, including two nearby mechanic’s shops. Kyle and a friend armed themselves with rifles due to the deadly violence gripping Kenosha and many other American cities, and headed to the business premises. The weapons were in Wisconsin and never crossed state lines.”
The statement described the circumstances surrounding the initial shooting: "[Rittenhouse] was accosted by multiple rioters who recognized that he had been attempting to protect a business the mob wanted to destroy. This outraged the rioters and created a mob now determined to hurt Kyle. They began chasing him down. Kyle attempted to get away, but he could not do so quickly enough. Upon the sound of a gunshot behind him, Kyle turned and was immediately faced with an attacker lunging towards him and reaching for his rifle. He reacted instantaneously and justifiably with his weapon to protect himself, firing and striking the attacker.”
The statement continued: “Kyle stopped to ensure care for the wounded attacker but faced a growing mob gesturing towards him. He realized he needed to flee for his safety and his survival. Another attacker struck Kyle from behind as he fled down the street. Kyle turned as the mob pressed in on him and he fell to the ground. One attacker kicked Kyle on the ground while he was on the ground. Yet another bashed him over the head with a skateboard. Several rioters tried to disarm Kyle. In fear for his life and concerned the crowd would either continue to shoot at him or even use his own weapon against him, Kyle had no choice but to fire multiple rounds towards his immediate attackers, striking two, including one armed attacker. The rest of the mob began to disperse upon hearing the additional gunshots.
“Kyle got up and continued down the street in the direction of police with his hands in the air. He attempted to contact multiple police officers, but they were more concerned with the wounded attackers. The police did not take Kyle into custody at that time, but instead they indicated he should keep moving. He fully cooperated, both then and later that night when he turned himself in to the police in his hometown, Antioch, Illinois.”
This account is contrary to initial fake news propagated by left-wing outlets that Rittenhouse crossed 'state lines' with the intention of harming BLM rioters.
Rittenhouse's legal team charged that “in a reactionary rush to appease the divisive, destructive forces currently roiling this country, prosecutors in Kenosha did not engage in any meaningful analysis of the facts, or any in-depth review of available video footage (some of which shows that a critical state’s witness was not even at the area where the shots were fired); this was not a serious investigation. Rather, after learning Kyle may have had conservative political viewpoints, they immediately saw him as a convenient target who they could use as a scapegoat to distract from the Jacob Blake shooting and the government’s abject failure to ensure basic law and order to citizens. Within 24-36 hours, he was charged with multiple homicide counts.”
In a less than 10-minute hearing livestreamed Friday, a public defenders for Rittenhouse requested to waive his presence there and for more time so that he could hire his own legal team.
Rittenhouse is now being represented by a legal team at Pierce Bainbridge, with help from Nicholas Sandmann’s lawyer Lin Wood.