A jury is to begin deliberations Tuesday in the high-profile case of the American teenager who shot dead two men and wounded another during anti-police protests and riots last year in the Wisconsin city of Kenosha.<\/p>\n
Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, who is charged with reckless homicide, testified during the two-week trial that he opened fire with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in self-defense.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors dismissed the self-defense claim during closing arguments on Monday, saying it was Rittenhouse who had provoked the events on the night of August 25, 2020.<\/p>\n
You cannot hide behind self-defense if you provoked the incident, Kenosha County assistant district attorney Thomas Binger said. The defendant provoked everything.<\/p>\n
No reasonable person would have done what the defendant did, Binger told the jury. And that makes your decision easy. He is guilty of all counts.<\/p>\n
The case has drawn national attention because it arose from the nationwide Black Lives Matter demonstrations last year.<\/p>\n
Protests and rioting in Kenosha erupted aftera white policeman shot a Black man, Jacob Blake, several times in his car during an arrest, leaving him paralyzed.<\/p>\n
In right-wing and pro-gun circles, Rittenhouse, who claims he went to Kenosha to protect property from looters and act as a medic, has been painted as a heroic figure.<\/p>\n
Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has put 500 members of the state National Guard on standby in the event of trouble following a verdict.<\/p>\n
In his instructions to the jury after closing arguments, Judge Bruce Schroeder told the 12-member panel not to be swayed by sympathy, passion, prejudice or political beliefs.<\/p>\n
You will pay no heed to the opinions of anyone, even the president of the United States or the president before him, Schroeder said in a reference to Joe Bidens predecessor Donald Trump.<\/p>\n
Testifying in court last week, Rittenhouse said he didnt do anything wrong.<\/p>\n
I defended myself, he said. I did not intend to kill them. I intended to stop the people who were attacking me.<\/p>\n
But Binger, the prosecutor, said none of these people (shot by Rittenhouse) posed an imminent threat to the defendants life.<\/p>\n
Rittenhouse, who lived in the neighboring state of Illinois, had come to Kenosha as a self-appointed junior policeman and made a series of reckless decisions, Binger said.<\/p>\n
Nobody asked him to do that, he added. Nobody gave him the right. Nobody deputized him.<\/p>\n
Defense attorney Mark Richards said the then 17-year-old Rittenhouse had come to Kenosha that night because he was trying to help.<\/p>\n
He worked in Kenosha. His Dad lived in Kenosha. His grandmother lived in Kenosha, Richards said.<\/p>\n
My client didnt shoot at anyone until he was chased and cornered, he said. Every person who was shot was attacking Kyle one with a skateboard, one with his hands, one with his feet, one with a gun.<\/p>\n
There are no winners in this case, the defense attorney added. But putting Kyle Rittenhouse down for something he was privileged to do would serve no legitimate purpose.<\/p>\n
James Kraus, another prosecutor, accused the defense team of trying to make the jury believe that these people got what was coming to them.<\/p>\n
If people did bad things that night they could have been prosecuted, he said.Its not up to Mr. Rittenhouse to be the judge and the jury and eventually the executioner.<\/p>\n
He was not acting in legal justified self-defense.<\/p>\n
Rittenhouse is charged with five felony counts, including first-degree homicide and attempted homicide.<\/p>\n
The judge on Monday dropped one charge: illegal possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.<\/p>\n
by Charlotte Plantive and Chris Lefkow<\/p>\n
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Jury set to begin deliberations in Wisconsin shooting trial - Macau Business<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A jury is to begin deliberations Tuesday in the high-profile case of the American teenager who shot dead two men and wounded another during anti-police protests and riots last year in the Wisconsin city of Kenosha. Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, who is charged with reckless homicide, testified during the two-week trial that he opened fire with an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in self-defense. Prosecutors dismissed the self-defense claim during closing arguments on Monday, saying it was Rittenhouse who had provoked the events on the night of August 25, 2020. Continue reading