Kyle Rittenhouse will begin an expected two-week long homicide trial Tuesday after jury selection was finalized Monday night.
Rittenhouse, 18, is on trial for killing two people after opening fire on Black Lives Matter protesters with a semi-automatic rifle at a demonstration in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020.
Opening statements are set to begin Tuesday morning.
The jury in the politically charged case must decide whether Rittenhouse acted in self-defense, as his lawyers claim, or was engaged in vigilantism when the then-17-year-old opened fire with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle in August 2020, killing two men and wounding a third.
On Monday, at Kenosha County Courthouse, Rittenhouse was seen yawning and looking distracted during the all-day session that ran well past dark.
Eventually, 20 people — 12 jurors and eight alternates — were selected from a pool of 179 potentials. The judge said he would decide at the end of the trial which ones are alternates and which ones will deliberate. The 20 consist of 11 women and nine men.
Jurors were not asked to identify their race during the selection process, and the court did not immediately provide a racial breakdown of the group.
Rittenhouse had traveled to Kenosha from his home in Illinois during unrest that broke out after a white Kenosha police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, in the back. Rittenhouse said he went there to protect property after two previous nights marked by arson, gunfire and the ransacking of businesses.
If convicted of first-degree homicide, the most serious of the charges against him, Rittenhouse could face life in prison.
Kyle Rittenhouse (pictured in court Monday) will begin an expected two-week long homicide trial Tuesday after jury selection was finalized Monday night
Photographs show the teen in the Kenosha County Courthouse Monday yawning and looking distracted as jury selection was underway
The seating of a jury moved along rapidly, given the sharp polarization caused by the shootings. About a dozen prospective jurors were dismissed because they had strong opinions about the case or doubts they could be fair.
The jury pool was questioned about their involvement in the racial injustice protests, ability to be impartial, opinions on guns and if they had donated to Rittenhouse’s defense fund.
‘How many of you would consider yourselves to be familiar with firearms?’ Prosecutor Thomas Binger questioned.
‘How many of you were personally affected by looting, arson, where your business was personally affected?’
Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum (pictured), 36, with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle after Rosenbaum chased Rittenhouse across a parking lot and threw a plastic bag at him shortly before midnight on August 25, 2020
Moments later, as Rittenhouse was running down a street, he shot and killed Anthony Huber (pictured), 26, a protester from Silver Lake, Wisconsin
One prospective juror was dropped from the case after alleging she would find Rittenhouse guilty of all charges just because he was carrying an assault-style weapon.
‘I don’t think a weapon like that should belong to the general public,’ the woman said.
Two prospective jurors expressed concern about serving due to the political nature of the case, however Judge Schroeder assured them precautions would be taken to keep them safe.
‘My fear is walking out of any of the days of court and just wondering what we’re walking out to,’ one potential juror shared.
‘What are our cars going to look like when we’re going out to them? Are they going to be slashed? Are they going to be damaged? Am I going to be able to get home safe?’
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The jury, which was narrowed down from a pool of 179 potential jurors, will be tasked with determining if Rittenhouse (pictured) acted in self-defense or was engaged in vigilantism when he fired shots at the victims, as his lawyers allege
Kyle Rittenhouse (left) and his mother, Wendy Rittenhouse (right), were both pictured in court Monday
Judge Bruce Schroeder, who presided over jury selection, stressed repeatedly that jurors must decide the case solely on what they hear in the courtroom, and cautioned: ‘This is not a political trial’
Overall, officials argued that the biggest challenge was finding jurors who said they could set their personal feelings aside and hear the case objectively.
‘I want this case to reflect the greatness and fairness of Kenosha,’ Judge Schroeder said.
The judge stressed repeatedly that jurors must decide the case solely on what they hear in the courtroom, and cautioned: ‘This is not a political trial.’
‘It was mentioned by both political campaigns and the presidential campaign last year, in some instances very, very imprudently,’ he said.
And he said there has been inaccurate information written by people who ‘don’t know what you’re going to know. Those of you who are selected for this jury, who are going to hear for yourselves the real evidence in this case.’
The judge said Rittenhouse’s constitutional right to a fair trial, not the Second Amendment right to bear arms, will come into play, and ‘I don’t want it to get sidetracked into other issues.’
Rittenhouse (pictured left) traveled to Kenosha during a protest that broke out after a white Kenosha police officer shot Jacob Blake, a black man, in the back last summer
He faces two homicide counts, one of attempted homicide and two of recklessly endangering safety for firing his weapon near others. He is also charged with possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18
Rittenhouse, formerly of Antioch, Illinois, traveled to Kenosha during a protest that broke out after a white Kenosha police officer shot Jacob Blake, a black man, in the back last summer.
The teen, who reportedly aspired to be a police officer, claims he went to the protest area in an effort to protect the property after two previous nights had been marked by arson, gunfire and the ransacking of businesses.
While he Kenosha, Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle after Rosenbaum chased Rittenhouse across a parking lot and threw a plastic bag at him shortly before midnight on August 25.
Moments later, as Rittenhouse was running down a street, he shot and killed Anthony Huber, 26, a protester from Silver Lake, Wisconsin, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, a protester from West Allis, Wisconsin.
He faces two homicide counts, one of attempted homicide and two of recklessly endangering safety for firing his weapon near others. He is also charged with possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.
He also wounded Gaige Grosskreutz (pictured on right), 27, a protester from West Allis, Wisc.
Rittenhouse’s case has been polarizing, according to the Associated Press. The teen has been painted by his conservative supporters as a patriot exercising his self-defense and Second Amendment gun rights. While others see him as a vigilante and police wannabe who never should have been armed in Kenosha in the first place.
Rittenhouse is white, as were those he shot, but many are watching his trial as the latest referendum on race and the American legal system.
‘This case has become very political,’ Judge Schroeder told the jurors Monday. ‘It was involved in the politics of the last election year. … You could go out now and read things from all across the political spectrum about this case, most of which is written by people who know nothing.
‘I don’t mean that that they are know-nothings. I mean that they don’t know what you’re going to know: those of you who are selected for this jury, who are going to hear for yourselves the real evidence in this case.’
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