Kyle Rittenhouse: “I did not do anything wrong, I just defended myself”

Kyle Rittenhouse, the 18-year-old who is on trial for shooting and killing two people and wounding a third at a 2020 protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, burst into tears Wednesday when he took the stand to testify at his trial.

The young man, who at the time of shooting in 2020 was 17 years old, broke down sobbing so much that the judge asked for a recess.

The statement of the young man’s lawyers is that he was in self-defense. “I did nothing wrong. I defended myself,” Rittenhouse said he faces charges for killing two men and wounding another. He could be sentenced to life in prison if he is convicted of the most serious charges against him.

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The events occurred in the summer of 2020, when people took to the streets in a rage after a black man was seriously injured by a white Kenosha police officer. The events occurred shortly after the massive nationwide protests over George Floyd’s death at the hands of the Minneapolis Police.

With social spirits heated, Rittenhouse went to Kenosha with an AK47-style semi-automatic weapon and a handbag. He said it was an attempt to protect private property from riots by dozens of people that ended in some cases in fires and looting of businesses in the previous two nights.

Kyle Rittenhouse said he fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum after he chased after him and placed his hand on his rifle. He then shot and killed Anthony Huber as well. Rittenhouse claimed he opened fire after Huber hit him on the neck with his skateboard and took the rifle from him.

When a third man, Gaige Grosskreutz, appeared on the scene, Rittenhouse said he “lunged” at him “with a pistol pointed” at his head. So, Rittenhouse says, he shot him too, but in this case he only wounded him.