Kyle Rittenhouse has been charged with the murders of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber following two nights of stormy protests in Kenosha sparked by the police shooting of a local Black man, Jacob Blake.

He broke down in tears as he spoke about firing demonstrators with a gun.

Two individuals died and a third was wounded when Kyle Rittenhouse opened fire with an AR-15-style weapon during chaotic racial justice protests in Wisconsin on Wednesday.

To defend himself, he claimed, he made the decision to do so.

During last year’s protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Rittenhouse, then 18, tried to depict himself as a selfless medic and firefighter who only pulled out his revolver after being assaulted and attacked.

At the outset of the investigation, the prosecution tried to portray Rittenhouse as some sort of vigilante with an assault rifle who was looking to use it in the heat of battle. They probed him about his ammunition as well as his fondness for violent video games.

“I did what I had to do to stop the person who was attacking me,” Rittenhouse said under questioning by Attorney Thomas Binger.

“By killing them?” the lawyer asked.

“Two of them passed away but I stopped the threat from attacking me,” Rittenhouse replied.

“By using deadly force?” Binger asked.

“I used deadly force,” Rittenhouse said. “… I didn’t know if it was going to kill them. But I used deadly force to stop the threat that was attacking me.”

Rittenhouse, 17 at the time of the killings, is charged with the killing of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and the wounding of Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, during protests on Aug. 25, 2020.

He has pleaded not guilty.

By the day of the shootings, Kenosha had experienced two nights of tumultuous protests triggered by the police shooting of a local Black man, Jacob Blake.

Several businesses were burned down and there was looting.

Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to control crowds, which included men wearing military-style gear and carrying rifles who confronted the sometimes-violent demonstrators.

Dressed in a navy blue suit and dark blue tie, Rittenhouse initially was composed on the witness stand until his attorney asked him to detail his encounter with Rosenbaum, who he shot four times.

Video evidence showed Rosenbaum pursuing and throwing a plastic bag at Rittenhouse before the fatal encounter.

“I didn’t notice Mr. Rosenbaum until he came out from behind the car and ambushed me,” Rittenhouse testified, before he started to breathe heavily and lose his composure, shedding tears and sobbing, prompting the judge to call for a break.

Some jurors watched with a look of sympathy as he cried.

Rittenhouse’s mother sobbed in the courtroom watching her son.

Moments earlier, Rittenhouse said Rosenbaum had threatened twice to kill him, telling a group he was with “I’m going to cut your fucking hearts out.”

The slain man’s fiance has testified Rosenbaum was being treated for bipolar disorder.

Rittenhouse faces a misdemeanour charge of underage possession of his weapon along with five felony counts.

The teenager has emerged as a divisive figure, with politics coursing through the case.

He is a hero to some conservatives who believe in unfettered gun rights and see the shootings as justified during the Kenosha chaos.

Many on the left see Rittenhouse as a symbol of an American gun culture run amok.

The prosecution pressed Rittenhouse about why he took it upon himself to carry a gun and offer assistance normally provided by local authorities in a hazardous situation.

“I brought the gun for my protection,” Rittenhouse testified.

Rittenhouse said he was asked to help guard a used car dealership along with other armed men, including one who was a boyfriend of his sister at the time.

Before the Rosenbaum shooting, Rittenhouse said he was walking down the street and heard “somebody scream ‘burn in hell’ and I replied with ‘friendly, friendly, friendly’ to let them know, ‘Hey, I’m just here to help. … I don’t want any problems.

“I just want to put out the fires if there are any.'”

The Kenosha unrest occurred three months after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis sparked nationwide protests over racism and police brutality.

Rittenhouse’s trial continues.

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