Kyle Rittenhouse’s attorney blames shooting on victim’s sex offender status
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Kyle Rittenhouse’s attorney wants to argue that one of the men the teen killed during a Wisconsin Black Lives Matter protest was a sex offender who attacked his client to try to steal his gun — because he couldn’t legally possess one himself.
Rittenhouse’s attorney, Mark Richards, filed a motion last Thursday seeking permission to use Joseph Rosenbaum‘s conviction for having sex with a minor in 2002 in his 18-year-old client’s upcoming murder trial.
“It is the defense’s position that Rosenbaum sought to arm himself by stealing Mr. Rittenhouse’s weapon because he could not legally purchase a firearm due to his status as a convicted sex offender,” the motion states, according to the Kenosha News, which first reported it.
“The evidence will be that Joseph Rosenbaum chased Mr. Rittenhouse through a parking lot and attempted to disarm him before being shot,” Richards said in another motion filed Thursday.
Rittenhouse was just 17 when he joined militia groups protecting Kenosha during fiery riots after the police shooting of Jacob Blake last August.
He has admitted shooting dead Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber as well as injuring Gaige Grosskreutz — but only while he “exercised his right to self-defense,” his legal team argued.
“There is no evidence that Mr. Rittenhouse targeted either of those individuals,” the motion said.
“The evidence will show that all three men attacked Mr. Rittenhouse, and that was the reason they were shot,” the filings said.
Huber and Grosskreutz were “both part of a mob” chasing Rittenhouse after the initial gunshots, and “Huber struck Rittenhouse in the head with a skateboard after Rittenhouse had his face stomped on by another man,” the filings claimed.
“After Huber struck Rittenhouse with the skateboard, he attempted to grab Rittenhouse’s firearm,” the filing said, saying that “video and still photographs confirm this.”
Grosskruetz was then seen “pointing a semiautomatic pistol directly at Rittenhouse when he was shot in the arm,” the motion insists.
Kimberley Motley, an attorney representing Rosenbaum’s estate, rejected Richards’ theory but declined to comment further since the case against Rittenhouse remains open.
“We believe strongly that Mr. Rittenhouse was the aggressor and his actions were not lawful,” she told the Associated Press on Tuesday.
Richards also filed a motion to dismiss a charge that Rittenhouse couldn’t possess a gun because he was too young under Wisconsin law.
He argued that statutes prohibit minors from possessing short-barreled shotguns and rifles, and Rittenhouse’s assault-style rifle doesn’t meet that definition.
The defense also sought to exclude any mention of possible ties to the “Proud Boys” or the teen filmed flashing a white-power sign.
“There is no evidence which links Mr. Rittenhouse to any white nationalist or hate groups on or about that time,” the filings insisted, also stressing that “there is no evidence that Mr. Rittenhouse made any racial comments to any of the individuals who attacked him.”
Rittenhouse faces a slew of charges, including reckless homicide, recklessly endangering safety, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and being a minor in possession of a dangerous weapon.
Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder has scheduled a hearing on the motions for Sept. 17.
With Post wires
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