Criminal Complaint Against Rittenhouse Backs Self-defense Claim
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The five-count criminal complaint against Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot and killed two rioting thugs and wounded a third on Tuesday in Kenosha, Wisconsin, clearly documents a self-defense argument for the 17-year-old.

The complaint lodges two counts of homicide for the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, one count of attempted homicide for shooting Gaige Grosskreutz, two counts of reckless endangering, and one count of underage possession of a dangerous weapon.

Rittehnouse, who lives in Antioch, Illinois, went to Kenosha to help police and the city’s residents protect life and property from the Marxist thugs trying to destroy the city after the police shooting of sex-assault suspect Jacob Blake.

Probable Cause
The probable-cause statement reports that prosecutors watched multiple videos to reconstruct the mayhem that began at about 11:45 p.m. on Tuesday.

The first video depicts Rosenbaum following Rittenhouse across a parking lot, the complaint says. Richard McGinnis, a reporter for the Daily Caller, was following Rosenbaum, a convicted sex-offender and deranged and dangerous sociopath:

The video shows that as they cross the parking lot, Rosenbaum appears to throw an object at the defendant. The object does not hit the defendant and a second video shows, based on where the object landed, that it was a plastic bag. Rosenbaum appears to be unarmed for the duration of this video.

A second video depicts Rittenhouse and Rosenbaum in front of a black car:

A loud bang is heard … then a male shouts, “F**k you!,” then Rosenbaum appears to continue to approach the defendant and gets in near proximity to the defendant when 4 more loud bangs are heard. Rosenbaum then falls to the ground.

Reporter McGinnis, who aided the dying sex fiend, told detectives he saw Rosenbaum “initially try to engage the defendant” and that as “the defendant was walking, Rosenbaum was trying to get closer to the defendant.”

“Other people” were also advancing on Rittenhouse, the complaint says, who “was trying to evade these individuals.”

Yet even knowing Rittenhouse had an AR-15, Rosenbaum “was trying to get the defendant’s gun,” McGinnis told cops, and “definitely made a motion that he was trying to grab the barrel of the gun.”

Rittenhouse “pulled it away and then raised it” and “right as they came together, the defendant fired.”

Two more videos depict the second and third shootings. A mob was chasing Rittenhouse with shouts of “beat him up!” and “Get him! Get that dude!”

“Then a male in a light-colored top runs towards the defendant and appears to swing at the defendant with his right arm,” the complaint says:

This swing makes contact with the defendant, knocking his hat off. The defendant continues to run northbound. On the video a male can be heard saying something to the effect of, “What’d he do?” Another male can be heard responding something to the effect of, “Just shot someone.” Then a male can be heard yelling, “Get his ass!” The defendant then trips and falls to the ground.

Rittenhouse fired at a rioter who attacked him, and then a “second person who was later identified as Anthony Huber approaches the defendant who is still on the ground, on his back.”

That’s when Huber — convicted of felony domestic abuse for trying to strangle someone — learned you don’t bring a skateboard to gun fight:

Huber has a skateboard in his right hand. When Huber reaches the defendant it appears that he is reaching for the defendant’s gun with his left hand as the skateboard makes contact with the defendant’s left shoulder. Huber appears to be trying to pull the gun away from the defendant. The defendant rolls towards his left side and as Huber appears to be trying to grab the gun the gun is pointed at Huber’s body. The defendant then fires one round which can be heard on the video. Huber staggers away, taking several steps, then collapses to the ground. Huber subsequently died from this gunshot wound.

After shooting Huber, the defendant moves to a seated position and points his gun at a third male, later identified as Gaige Grosskreutz, who had begun to approach the defendant. When the defendant shot Huber, Grosskreutz freezes and ducks and takes a step back. Grosskreutz puts his hands in the air. Grosskreutz then moves towards the defendant who aims his gun at Grosskreutz and shoots him, firing 1 shot. Grosskreutz was shot in the right arm.

Oddly, the complaint says Grosskreutz “appears to be holding a handgun in his right hand,” although video at the New York Times, for instance, is clear. He had a gun. And he told a friend, as The New American reported yesterday, that he wishes he had killed Rittenhouse.

Autopsy and Charges
The complaint also details the autopsy results on sex-fiend Rosenbaum and domestic-abuser Huber.

Rosenbaum did not die from the gunshot to his head, which only grazed him. One bullet hit him in the groin and fractured his hip, another perforated his right lung and liver, another hit his left hand, and yet another his left thigh.

His death led to a charge of first-degree reckless homicide, use of a dangerous weapon.

The bullet that killed Huber perforated his heart, aorta, pulmonary artery, and right lung. His death invited the charge of first-degree intentional homicide, use of a dangerous weapon.

For wounding Grosskreutz, who ran around shouting “medic,” prosecutors charged Rittenhouse with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, use of a dangerous weapon.

He faces two charges of first-degree reckless endangering, use of a dangerous weapon, in connection with McGinnis and the unknown man at whom he fired. Prosecutors also charged Rittenhouse with possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.

If convicted, Rittenhouse could land in prison for life.

Famed lawyer Lin Wood and his cohort at #FightBack are assembling a legal team to defend the boy.

Image: screenshot from YouTube video

R. Cort Kirkwood is a long-time contributor to The New American and a former newspaper editor.