Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, fights his extradition from Illinois to Wisconsin to face charges for shooting dead two protesters in Kenosha after his lawyers said he was acting in self-defense
Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old Illinois teen charged with shooting dead two protesters and injuring another in Kenosha, is fighting his extradition to Wisconsin.
During an online court hearing in Illinois on Friday, the teenager's lawyer John Pierce told the judge he planned to fight the request by Kenosha prosecutors that Rittenhouse be transferred to Wisconsin to face charges.
Prosecutors say Rittenhouse shot and killed two protesters and wounded a third on the streets of Kenosha on August 25.
His attorneys have said Rittenhouse acted in self-defense and have portrayed him as a courageous patriot who was exercising his right to bear arms during unrest over the police shooting of black man Jacob Blake.
Rittenhouse participated in the hearing at the Lake County Circuit Court in Illinois via video link from the detention facility where he is being held.
Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, participated in a hearing on Friday at the Lake County Circuit Court in Illinois via video link from the detention facility where he is being held
He was wearing a black sweatshirt and a gray mask covered his face.
His only remarks in the brief hearing were to address the judge and say 'good morning, you honor'.
The judge, Paul Novak, gave 14 days for the defense to review papers and file pleadings ahead of an October 9 hearing.
Pierce asked for a month to prepare arguments challenging extradition that he said involve 'issues of some complexity, frankly that have not arisen in the country for some time'.
'We intend to challenge extradition by writ of habeas corpus,' Pierce said.
He didn't provide further details at the hearing about the basis for the challenge.
Novak granted two weeks to prepare those arguments. The delay in returning Rittenhouse to Wisconsin is the second in the case.
Rittenhouse is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the killing of two white protesters and attempted intentional homicide in the wounding of a third.
Prosecutors say Rittenhouse shot and killed two protesters and wounded a third on the streets of Kenosha on August 25. His attorneys have said Rittenhouse acted in self-defense and have portrayed him as a courageous patriot who was exercising his right to bear arms
Rittenhouse is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the killing of two protesters: Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber
He also faces a misdemeanor charge of underage firearm possession for wielding a semi-automatic rifle.
If convicted of first-degree homicide, Rittenhouse faces a mandatory life in prison sentence.
The teenager had traveled to Kenosha on August 25 from his home in nearby Antioch, Illinois, in a self-appointed role to protect the streets of Kenosha where the police shooting of Jacob Blake had sparked unrest during protests.
Cellphone videos from the night show chaotic scenes.
According to prosecutors and court documents, Rittenhouse shot and killed 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum after Rosenbaum threw a plastic bag at Rittenhouse, missing him, and tried to wrestle his rifle away.
While trying to get away in the immediate aftermath, Rittenhouse was captured on cellphone video saying 'I just killed somebody.'
According to the complaint filed by prosecutors, someone in the crowd said, 'Beat him up!' and another yelled, 'Get him! Get that dude!'
Video shows that Rittenhouse tripped in the street.
Video shows that Rittenhouse tripped in the street before 26-year-old Anthony Huber hit him with a skateboard and tried to take his rifle away. Rittenhouse opened fire, killing Huber
Rittenhouse then shot and injured Gaige Grosskreutz, who was holding a handgun at the time, as he approached the teenager
As he was on the ground, 26-year-old Anthony Huber hit him with a skateboard and tried to take his rifle away. Rittenhouse opened fire, killing Huber and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz who was holding a handgun at the time.
Cellphone video that captured some of the action shows Rittenhouse afterward walking slowly toward a police vehicle with his hands up, only to be waved through by police.
He returned to his Illinois home and turned himself in soon after. Police later blamed the chaotic conditions for not arresting Rittenhouse at the scene.
Rittenhouse's lawyers have also sought to portray the case as a referendum on the right to bear arms following a summer of sometimes violent protests in major US cities.
'A 17-year-old American citizen is being sacrificed by politicians, but it's not Kyle Rittenhouse they are after,' the narrator says in a video released this week by a group tied to his legal team.
'Their end game is to strip away the constitutional right of all citizens to defend our communities.'
Pierce has described Rittenhouse not as a vigilante, but as a model citizen who was cleaning graffiti from a vandalized high school before he received word from a business owner seeking help to protect what was left of his property after rioters burned two of his other buildings.
Rittenhouse's defense lawyers argue that the teenager was running away (above with his gun) from a group when he started being chased by 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum (the man pictured on the right)
The video shows Rittenhouse running into a parking lot, followed by Rosenbaum and journalist Richard McGinniss, who was filming the chase on his cellphone