Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old arrested in connection to the shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin that left two dead, faces up to five felony charges stemming from the incident according to CNN. Rittenhouse is facing two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment, one charge of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, one charge of first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless homicide.
The most severe charges stem from the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum and Antony Ruber. Rosenbaum was shot by the 17-year-old first and appeared to throw an object at the teen before the deadly encounter. It turned out Rosenbaum was unarmed and the item in question was a plastic bag. Rittenhouse reportedly got on his cellphone shortly after and told someone that he had “just killed somebody.”
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Two men killed by a Trump-supporting right-wing domestic terrorist were a father and a skater who tried to disarm the shooter. A third injured man was a volunteer medic.#TrumpsAmericahttps://t.co/znT5bqLw3G
— Democratic Coalition (@TheDemCoalition) August 28, 2020
Huber’s death came when he attempted to grab the gun away from Rittenhouse and he was shot once. He tried to walk away but soon fell to the ground and died from the gunshot.
The attempted homicide charge stems from the third shooting victim, Gaige Grosskreutz. He was reportedly armed, according to investigators, and was left with one non-lethal injury. According to TMZ, Rittenhouse could face life in prison on the intentional homicide charge alone. They add that he’s also facing a misdemeanor charge for possessing a dangerous weapon while under age 18.
The shooting has divided many across the U.S. more than they had been, stoking the emotions already raw from the 2020 election, the pandemic and the continued Black Lives Matter protests.
Unrest in Kenosha was sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake that was caught on camera earlier in the week. Blake was shot seven times in the back by officers as he tried to enter his vehicle after reportedly breaking up a fight on the street. According to reports, Blake’s children were inside the car when he was shot, and his injuries have allegedly left him paralyzed from the waist down.
Blake’s shooting is the latest in a string this year that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement. While the movement has existed for years stemming from the deaths of Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin years back, the 2020 deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor have pushed tensions to their breaking point.
