'He probably would have been killed.' Donald Trump DEFENDS accused double murderer Kyle Rittenhouse saying 17-year-old was 'very violently attacked' before he opened fire in Kenosha and refuses to condemn vigilantes on eve of visiting violence-scarred city
President Donald Trump defended the actions of Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, saying the 17-year-old 'probably would have been killed' by an angry mob if he hadn't fired at them with the illegal gun he was carrying.
'He was trying to get away from them I guess, it looks like, and he fell on then they very violently attacked him,' Trump said in response to a question from DailyMail.com on Monday.
'It was something that we are looking at right now and it's under investigation, but I guess he was in very big trouble. He probably would've been killed. It's under investigation,' he added.
President Donald Trump heads to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday
President Trump defended the actions of Kyle Rittenhouse, saying the 17-year-old 'probably would have been killed' by an angry mob if he hadn't fired at them with the illegal gun he was carrying.
President Trump heads to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday to visit with law enforcement officials after the shooting of Jacob Blake sparked riots throughout the city. Blake, a black man, was shot seven times in the back by white police in front of his children. He is in the hospital in critical condition.
But the incident and ensuring demonstrations prompted self-styled militia men to take to the streets with their own weapons because they don't trust the police to keep the city safe.
Among those vigilantes on Tuesday night was 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who'd come from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to patrol the streets with an illegal AR-15.
He tripped and fell while running in the street then was hit over the head by protester Anthony Huber, who had a skateboard and wanted to disarm him.
Rittenhouse, in response, opened fire and ended up killing Huber, one other person and injuring a third.
He was not arrested until the following day, despite approaching police with his hands in the air while other protesters yelled that he'd just shot multiple people. He is in custody in Illinois and faces extradition to Wisconsin later this month.
Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, was patrolling the streets with an AR-15. He fell over, was hit with a skateboard by other protesters who tried to disarm him, and opened fire, wounding one person and killing two. He is now being held on murder charges
Jacob Blake was shot seven times in the back in front of his three kids despite being unarmed
The president also refused to condemn vigilantes when pressed on the self-styled militia by DailyMail.com.
'I think everything should be taken care of with law enforcement but we have to give our cops back, our police back their dignity,' he said.
He defended the actions of police, saying sometimes they make a mistake - 'they choke' - and that decision gets played over and over again on the evening news.
'You have bad cops - we have to take care of them. In other cases, they choke,' he said. 'They have a quarter of a second to make a decision and sometimes they make the wrong decision. They make the wrong decision, you know if they make a wrong decision and the other direction, they're probably dead so they choke and that goes on the evening news for weeks.'
'They are very tough on bad cops but sometimes, a cop or a police person who was a good police person, right? Good. But they choke,' he added. 'They have a quarter of a second to make some of these decisions and they make the wrong decision that is very devastating but I will say this, I honor law enforcement. We wouldn't be here right now if it wasn't for law enforcement.'