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Two people were killed overnight in Kenosha when a group of men with guns who said they were protecting property, including a gas station, opened fire https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/26/us/kenosha-shooting-protests-jacob-blake.html
Thread with initial thoughts on what may have happened in Kenosha https://twitter.com/HamptonStall/status/1298609071168393216
Police have arrested 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse of Antioch, Illinois, on suspicion of first-degree intentional homicide in Kenosha last night. Two people were killed and a third wounded https://apnews.com/97a0700564fb52d7f664d8de22066f88
There is no evidence so far that Rittenhouse was a member of a white supremacist group, but his Facebook page featured various pro-police, Blue Lives Matter images.
Highlighting a few parts of our team's investigation into the videos of the Rittenhouse killings:
The police do interact with Rittenhouse's group before the shootings and do act supportive. They offer them water, toss them the bottles, and tell them "We do appreciate you guys, we really do."
The owner of a gas station where there had been confrontations between the armed group and the crowds (not the location of the shooting) told the Times that the armed men turned up without his request to "protect the station."
The first time we see Rittenhouse in the video of the first shooting, he is being chased into an auto resale parking lot where the crowd had recently been breaking car windows and trying to set other cars on fire.
Our team was able to determine that a third person, not Rittenhouse or his pursuer, fired the first shot into the air, from a pistol. A few moments later, Rittenhouse turns and shoots the man who's pursuing him four times, killing him.
Thread on how self-defense doctrine and a widespread open carry situation could provide Kyle Rittenhouse with an effective defense in court, especially given the first shot our team identified and that one of his victims was also armed https://twitter.com/coreyryung/status/1299015904399962116?s=21 https://twitter.com/coreyryung/status/1299015904399962116
Rittenhouse, it should be noted, was illegally open carrying under Wisconsin law https://www.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2020/08/26/wisconsin-open-carry-law-kyle-rittenhouse-legally-have-gun-kenosha-protest-shooting-17-year-old/3444231001/
A sociologist interviewed 79 police chiefs in three states and found, unsurprisingly, that police see (white) gun populism as legitimate and a useful way to devolve policing onto private civilians. Timely piece by @zackbeauchamp https://www.vox.com/2020/8/27/21404117/kenosha-kyle-rittenhouse-police-gun-populism
The Kenosha County District Attorney's criminal complaint against Kyle Rittenhouse is now public. It relies heavily on the public video evidence and statements from @RichieMcGinniss. I'll tweet some highlights https://int.nyt.com/data/documenttools/kyle-rittenhouse-criminal-complaint/8f4a5b31354d0478/full.pdf
Rittenhouse faces six charges: reckless homicide, intentional homicide, attempted homicide, possession of a dangerous weapon by someone under 18, and two counts of endangering someone's safety,
The complaint adds to our knowledge of what happened right before the first shooting. Rosenbaum, who'd been filmed earlier confronting the armed group, tried to get near Rittenhouse, who "juked" and started running. Rosenbaum pursued him.
Rosenbaum attempted to grab Rittenhouse's gun, and Rittenhouse fired three times. Notably, Rosenbaum's autopsy revealed five gunshot wounds. This discrepancy is not explained.
People pursue Rittenhouse, who trips. He shoots and misses at someone jumping over him, then fatally shoots Anthony Huber, who is trying to disarm him (this is the intentional homicide charge). He then shoots armed medic Gaige Grosskreutz (this is an attempted homicide charge)
New: After reviewing an additional Facebook livestream from @KoerriElijah, we spotted Kyle Rittenhouse in the two minutes preceding the first Kenosha shooting, the closest we've come to pinning down what happened in the lead-up. I'll thread a few details here:
Rittenhouse appears in multiple videos throughout the night moving around and offering medical help, though nobody seems to take him up on it. He can be heard on @koerrielijah’s stream doing this at the Ultimate gas station at roughly 11:42pm. https://www.facebook.com/KoerriElijah/videos/3497957983549807
Around 1-2 minutes later, police report three or four people trying to light vehicles on fire at the auto service shop where the first shooting will soon occur. They advise caution because four people with handguns have been seen “running around.”
Roughly two minutes after that, Rittenhouse runs across Elijah's footage, carrying a fire extinguisher and heading in the direction of the auto service shop. Elijah says, “I don’t know where he’s running to, but let’s check it out.”
Rittenhouse slows to a walk and shouts “does anybody need medical” as he approaches a group trying to light a garbage bin on fire in the street that includes Joseph Rosenbaum, the first victim. A bystander says, “These stupid white people.”
At roughly 11:48:30, Rosenbaum, who's been walking in the street, jogs toward an individual on the sidewalk. It seems to match the statement @RichieMcGinniss gave to police, which is that Rosenbaum tried to “engage” Rittenhouse, who “juked” and began to run.
About 29 seconds later, after Rosenbaum pursues Rittenhouse into the parking lot of the auto service shop, Rittenhouse turns and shoots.
