The protests outside Kenosha courthouse continued on Wednesday with the arrival of an armed man calling himself ‘Maserati Mike’, as jury deliberations entered a second day in the case of Kyle Rittenhouse.
‘Mike’ arrived in the black sportscar where he takes his nickname, carrying a megaphone and wearing thin-rimmed glasses and a bow-tie.
‘Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization,’ he chanted, before being told by cops to put his gun away.
‘That subject was talked to by officers, and the situation was resolved. The man put his rifle away voluntarily. We did not take any further action,’ Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department told DailyMail.com.
He complied, then left the court in his sportscar.
There were only a handful of others there, including a woman holding an American flag, but more are expected throughout the day.
On Tuesday, BLM protesters clashed with Rittenhouse fans who made white power signs on the courthouse steps.
Rittenhouse faces life behind bars if found guilty of the charges the jurors are now deliberating – attempted murder, murder and recklessly endangering public safety.
At noon on Wednesday, the jury asked to re-watch portions of video evidence. The defense yesterday submitted a motion for a mistrial that the judge is yet to read.
They asked the judge if they had to watch it in private, or in the courtroom again in front of Rittenhouse, lawyers, the media and the public. On Tuesday, the jury asked for more copies of jury instructions.
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‘Maserati Mike’ gets out of his black Maserati at Kenosha courthouse on Wednesday. He was the first protester there and chanted through his megaphone ‘Black Lives Matter is a terrorist organization’
‘Mike’ was wearing a shirt, bow-tie and slacks, as well as a bullet proof vest. He was carrying an assault rifle and megaphone
Sheriffs deputies rushed to tell him to put his gun away because he was within 1000ft of a school, which he complied with
The activist is one of many who has turned up at the courthouse to support Rittenhouse, who is on trial for murder
There is heightened security at the courthouse both from law enforcement and private security guards hired by media organizations
A protester outside Kenosha County Court House on Wednesday morning as jury deliberations entered a second day
Mike is shown back to his Maserati after chanting through a megaphone. There is increased angst surrounding the trial and verdict, which is expected at any moment this week
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A woman waving an American flag outside Kenosha Court House on Wednesday morning as jury deliberations entered a 2nd day
Jacob Blake’s uncle, Justin, returned to the courthouse for a second day. It was Blake being shot by a cop that sparked the riot Rittenhouse attended. Blake was armed with a knife when he was shot by a cop who’d been called there by the mother of Blake’s children who said ‘he’s got my kid!’
Rittenhouse is pictured drawing the names of the jurors who will either convict or acquit him from a drum inside the court on Tuesday
Protesters outside Kenosha County Courthouse on Wednesday afternoon as the jury entered its second day of deliberations
A Kyle Rittenhouse supporter wearing a ’45’ hat in reference to 45th President Donald Trump outside the courthouse on Wednesday
The case has divided the nation and brought back to the surface the debate that tore through cities last summer; Rittenhouse, then 17, shot dead two BLM protesters during a riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin, that was triggered by the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
He considers himself a vigilante and won a swell of support from around the country by others who labeled him a hero for defending the city against a BLM ‘mob’. Prosecutors tried to paint the teen as a blood-thirsty, trigger-happy, privileged white boy who was given a soft touch by the local cops.
The trial itself even replicated the issues that were being argued over.
Judge Bruce Schroeder has been dubbed a ‘racist’ by public spectators who think he is biased towards Rittenhouse. When he allowed him to pick jurors’ names at random from a barrel, that claim caught fire on social media with some labeling it a ‘shameful’ example of white privilege on display.
Rittenhouse’s fans include Mark and Patricia McCloskey, a St. Louis couple who last year found themselves at the center of the debate when they chased BLM protesters off their property by waving their own guns.
They posed with people on the courthouse steps yesterday who were making the hand gesture that’s known to represent ‘white power’ – a favorite among white supremacists.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki weighed in on the case on Monday, saying the country should ‘never’ have ‘vigilantes’ on the streets.
Judge Schroeder on Monday told the jury not consider anyone’s opinion – even that of the President – who called Rittenhouse a ‘white supremacist’ last year, before he’d been elected president.
Protesters demanding that Judge Bruce Schroeder be recalled. The judge has been inundated with complaints that he is racist
TUESDAY: Protesters clashed on the steps of the courthouse on Tuesday, with around two dozen activists on each side there
Tuesday: Mark McCloskey, center, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Missouri, pose for photo with supporters of Rittenhouse, one of whom did an ‘OK’ sign that is commonly used by white supremacists to signify ‘white power’
Tuesday: Police take security measures as BLM protesters and Kyle Rittenhouse supporters are gathered outside of the Kenosha County Courthouse awaiting verdict in Kyle Rittenhouse trial in Kenosha, Wisconsin
Tuesday: Rittenhouse supporters carried a ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ flag on Tuesday. The phrase has become a Republican battle-cry to protest against the liberal media’s bias towards President Biden. It originated when a journalist on-air claimed a crowd was chanting ‘Let’s Go Brandon’ instead of ‘F*** Joe Biden’
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