Lawyers for Kyle Rittenhouse set up legal defense fund after teen is charged with homicide

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The attorneys representing Kenosha gunman Kyle Rittenhouse have announced they will be establishing a legal defense fund for the teen who is facing multiple charges for killing two protesters on Tuesday. 

The Kenosha County District Attorney’s office on Thursday formally charged the 17-year-old from Illinois in the fatal shooting of two men and the wounding of a third during a night of Jacob Blake demonstrations in the city.  

The charges include one count of first-degree intentional homicide; one count of first-degree reckless homicide; one count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide; two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment. 

Rittenhouse would face a mandatory life sentence if convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, the most serious crime in Wisconsin. 

He was assigned a public defender in Illinois for a hearing Friday upon his extradition to Wisconsin, where anyone 17 or older is treated as an adult in the criminal justice system. 

Defense attorney Lin Wood on Thursday thanked all the ‘freedom loving Americans’ for their support of Rittenhouse, announcing they will be accepting donations through a foundation for his fight for ‘justice.’ 

‘We have connected with Kyle’s family & help is on the way. Kyle will have excellent legal representation. We owe him a legal defense,’ Wood said on Twitter.

‘Many others will need your help in coming days. Stay strong. Continue to speak truth. Continue to demand justice under our Constitution. Continue to be fearless.’ 

Wood said the Fight Back Foundation, Inc, will be accepting donations online within the next six to 12 hours. 

Viral cellphone footage from Tuesday night’s protests showed Rittenhouse being chased into a used car lot by someone before shots are heard and the person lies dead. 

The shooter then runs down the street where he is chased by several people shouting that he just shot someone. He stumbles after being approached by several more people and fires, killing another man and injuring a third. 

The two men who were killed have been identified as Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha, and Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake, about 15 miles west of the city. 

The wounded person, Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, of West Allis, about 30 miles northwest of Kenosha, was expected to survive, police said. 

Wood has claimed the teenager was acting in self-defense.

‘From my standpoint, it’s important that the message be clear to other Americans who are attacked that there will be legal resources available in the event false charges are brought against them,’ he said. 

‘Americans should never be deterred from exercising their right of self-defense.’ 

Kenosha police faced questions about their interactions with the gunman on Tuesday night. 

According to witness accounts and video footage, police apparently let the gunman walk past them and leave the scene with a rifle over his shoulder and his hands in the air, as members of the crowd yelled for him to be arrested because he had shot people.

As for how the gunman managed to slip away, Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth has described a chaotic, high-stress scene, with lots of radio traffic and people screaming, chanting and running – conditions he said can cause ‘tunnel vision’ among law officers.

Video taken before the shooting shows police tossing bottled water from an armored vehicle and thanking civilians armed with long guns walking the streets. One of them appears to be the gunman. 

‘We appreciate you being here,’ an officer was heard saying to the group over a loudspeaker. 

The sheriff later defended officers by saying, ‘Our deputies would toss water to anybody.’  

The national and state chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union on Thursday called for the resignation of Beth and Kenosha Police Chief Dan Miskinis over their handling of Blake’s death and the subsequent protests.

Rittenhouse, of Antioch, Illinois, about 15 miles from Kenosha, was taken into custody Wednesday in Illinois.

REVEALED: Police-loving Kenosha gunman started a Facebook fundraiser for a charity called ‘Humanizing the Badge’ for his 16th birthday – but organization insists it has ‘no direct affiliation’ with the teen

The teenage gunman charged with fatally shooting two protesters in Kenosha on Tuesday, had started a Facebook fundraiser for a police charity on his 16th birthday.

Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, launched a campaign for ‘Humanizing the Badge’, a nonprofit organization aimed at supporting law enforcement, in December 2018, according to old social media posts.

The teenager asked friends to donate to the charity, which he said sought to ‘forge stronger relationships between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve.’

The appeal was launched through Facebook’s popular fundraiser feature that allows users to collect money for a charity of their choice in lieu of gifts on their birthday.  

Users can choose from a list of 750,000 nonprofits and set a target for the amount of money they want to raise.

The post is one of several social media posts that have emerged in the wake of Rittenhouse’s arrest revealing his admiration for law enforcement and police. 

The teenager was formally charged with first-degree intentional homicide and other offenses on Thursday for fatally shooting two protesters and injuring a third, while ‘defending’ Kenosha during a demonstration on Tuesday. 

Humanizing the Badge appeared to try to distance itself from Rittenhouse and the shooting in a statement shared on Facebook on Thursday. 

The charity said the fundraiser did not necessarily mean Rittenhouse had a direct affiliation with the group, adding that Facebook lets ‘anyone’ create a campaign on  their page for any nonprofit.

‘Our Board of Directors believes that it is essential to release this statement, neither in support of, nor condemnation of, anyone involved in the Kenosha situation, but more specifically to address the implied involvement of Kyle Rittenhouse with the Humanizing the Badge organization,’ the organization said. 

‘There are 2 relevant facts regarding what has been reported: 1) it is a mischaracterization of the Facebook fundraiser process to state that Rittenhouse ‘held a fundraiser’ for Humanizing the Badge, which has left some people with the impression that he has some direct affiliation with our organization because he does not.

‘And 2) we have examined records dating back to January 1, 2020 and have found no evidence that Kyle Rittenhouse raised any money whatsoever that was donated to Humanizing the Badge.’

The organization went on to say its intention is to support everyone’s right to due process and that it does not state ‘opinions and assumptions as fact.’

‘We let the investigation proceed and the justice system do its difficult work. What will ultimately come out of this case remains to be seen,’ the statement read. 

As news of Rittenhouse’s arrest broke on Wednesday, Facebook removed the suspected gunman’s account and blocked searches under his name.  

Much of the teen’s Facebook page was devoted to praising law enforcement, with references to Blue Lives Matter, a movement that supports police. 

He was also seen holding an assault rifle in several photos. 

In a photograph posted by his mother, he is wearing what appears to be a blue law enforcement uniform as well as the kind of brimmed hat that state troopers wear.

In January this year, Rittenhouse also sat front row at a Trump rally at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa in January this year. 

A now-deleted TikTok account, believed to belong to the teen, also shows a video he took at the event.