Kyle Rittenhouse Breaks Down During Testimony in Day Seven of Murder Trial

Kyle Rittenhouse, the 18-year-old charged with first-degree intentional homicide after fatally shooting two men in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last summer, made an unexpected move by taking the stand in his own defense Wednesday.  

Rittenhouse killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, all of whom were in the thick of a protest against the shooting of Jacob Blake.  

The defense is arguing Rittenhouse acted in self-defense, while prosecutors say he acted as a vigilante who took too much of the law into his own hands.  

In a moment that went viral across the internet, Rittenhouse broke down in tears while testifying about his fatal encounter with Rosenbaum in a Car Source parking lot, a place Rittenhouse said the owners asked him to defend. Rittenhouse’s mother cried with him from the court gallery.  

Rittenhouse said Rosenbaum chased and lunged at him, reaching for the barrel of his AR-15. Rittenhouse then fired four shots.  

“If I let Mr. Rosenbaum get my gun, he would have killed me,” said Rittenhouse. “He could have run away instead of trying to take my gun from me.” 

Rittenhouse said prior to the shooting, he had seen Rosenbaum damaging property and attempting to start fires. He said Rosenbaum threatened to kill him twice. 

“I didn’t do anything wrong,” said Rittenhouse. “I defended myself.” 

Rittenhouse pleaded self-defense in the shootings of Huber and Grosskreutz as well. He said Huber swung a skateboard at him like a baseball bat, knocking him to the ground. 

Rittenhouse told the court his face was going to be stomped in if he didn’t fire. He fired one shot after Huber attempted to take his gun.  

Soon after, Rittenhouse said Grosskreutz was over him with a pistol aimed at his head, prompting Rittenhouse to fire at him once.  

“I didn’t intend to kill them, I intended to stop the people who were attacking me,” said Rittenhouse. “I did what I had to do to stop the person who was attacking me.” 

Rittenhouse testified that he then ran down the street to turn himself into the police, and to escape a mob of people yelling “get him, get him, get him.” 

“I put my hands up and as I’m walking towards the police, I can’t really hear anything, my vision is very narrow,” said Rittenhouse. “I remember I occasionally tried to move my rifle behind me, so the police didn’t see me as a threat when I tried to turn myself in.” 

Rittenhouse said he repeated to police, “I just shot somebody, I just shot somebody,” before being told to go home. Instead, he returned to the Car Source. 

Much of Rittenhouse’s several-hour-long turn at the stand consisted of questions from lead prosecutor Thomas Binger.  

 Binger said Rosenbaum may have reached for Rittenhouse’s gun not in an attempt to take it, but to push the barrel away in self-defense.  

“[Mr. Rosenbaum] said he was going to kill me if he got me alone,” Rittenhouse replied to Binger. “I was alone. I was running from him, I pointed it at him, and it didn’t stop him from continuing to chase me.” 

Binger attempted to dismantle the defense’s argument that Rittenhouse acted purely in self-defense, implying Rittenhouse went to Kenosha with his illegal AR-15 that night looking for trouble.  

“I never wanted to shoot Mr. Rosenbaum,” Rittenhouse said. “I wanted to help him. If the crowd hadn’t started screaming, I would have stayed and done everything I could to help Mr. Rosenbaum.” 

It was a difficult day for the prosecution. Binger pleaded with Schroeder to allow him to discuss various contentious points throughout the trial, building tension as the day went on.  

Binger said Rittenhouse was “tailoring his story to what has already been introduced,” causing defense attorney Mark Richards to express frustration that Binger was commenting on his client’s right to remain silent. 

Schroeder called it a “grave constitutional violation.” 

“You were over the line on commenting on the defendant’s pretrial silence, which is a well-known rule,” Schroeder said to Binger. “I’m astonished that would’ve been an issue.” 

Heated discussions between Binger and Schroeder continued as Binger attempted to discuss a picture of Rittenhouse in a bar shortly after a court appearance, where he was seen wearing a controversial shirt that read, “Free as F***.” 

Schroeder deemed it irrelevant to the case and denied it.  

Binger was again grilled by the judge when he discussed an incident on Aug. 10, 15 days before the shootings, where Rittenhouse allegedly verbally threatened someone.  

“I see no similarity between talking about wishing you had your AR gun, which you don’t have, so you can fire rounds at these thought-to-be shoplifters, and the incidents in these cases,” said Schroeder. “There’s nothing in your case that suggests the defendant was lying in wait to shoot somebody.” 

The defense is expected to rest their case later this week.