Authorities in Wisconsin on Friday uncuffed a paralyzed Jacob Blake from his hospital bed and attempted to explain how an officer fired seven bullets into the 29-year-old Black man’s back but then days later other police let a white teenager walk past as bystanders shouted that he had shot people.
The developments came as a Lake County judge allowed Kyle Rittenhouse — the 17-year-old from Antioch charged with killing two people and wounding another at violent demonstrations in Kenosha over Blake’s shooting — to remain in Illinois for at least another month as his family arranges legal help.. Meanwhile, he’s getting support in some conservative circles, and a pro-gun organization has announced plans to raise money for a legal defense fund.
On Friday afternoon, Patrick Cafferty, an attorney for Blake, said the handcuffs that had attached him to the bed were removed, and law enforcement officers left his Wisconsin hospital room after someone posted a $500 bond and warrants against him in a prior case in Kenosha County were vacated. Blake’s family and lawyers have said he is paralyzed from the waist down, and the use of restraints had sparked outrage, including condemnation from Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers.
Meanwhile, Kenosha police Chief Daniel Miskinis on Friday defended police after they allowed Rittenhouse to leave the scene of Tuesday’s shooting in the city wracked by property destruction and fires, even though video showed the teen was armed with a rifle and had his hands up.
“There were a lot of people in the area, a lot of people with weapons, and unfortunately, a lot of gunfire,” Miskinis said at a news conference. “What the officers were … driving into was a shots-fired complaint, not a shooting, not a person-down complaint. We have had many of those over the course of this unfortunate event.
“We have armed individuals out protesting, or counterprotesting, or simply walking around exercising their right, (who) will put their hands up,” Miskinis said. “It might have been abnormal two weeks ago. It’s no longer abnormal. There’s nothing to suggest this individual was involved in criminal behavior.”
Earlier on Friday, Lake County Judge Paul Novak granted a 30-day continuance during a brief online status hearing on Rittenhouse’s potential extradition to Kenosha County. His next hearing is scheduled for Sept. 25.
Kenosha County prosecutors on Thursday evening filed charges accusing Rittenhouse of first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide and several other counts. If convicted of the first-degree intentional homicide charge as an adult, Rittenhouse could face a life sentence.
Rittenhouse is accused of shooting the three men Tuesday night as numerous civilians armed with rifles inserted themselves into violent demonstrations that raged for three nights in Kenosha. The protests, clashes with police and fires followed the shooting of Blake, who according to a video appeared to have had his back turned to the cop who fired.
Rittenhouse was arrested as a fugitive Wednesday in Lake County, where he is being held without bail. He is charged in Wisconsin as an adult.
Rittenhouse’s case immediately became a popular cause in conservative circles, where pundits began defending the teenager before he had even been charged. At least two defense funds have been launched in his name in recent days, though it’s unclear if the Rittenhouse family supports either of those efforts.
On Friday evening, John M. Pierce, an attorney whose firm has represented associates of President Donald Trump, according to Reuters, said in a news release he would handle Rittenhouse’s case alongside other lawyers. As of Friday night, court records did not appear to show that the teen was formally represented by a private lawyer. Pierce’s statement says Rittenhouse was defending himself when “he exercised his God-given, Constitutional, common law and statutory law right to self-defense.”
The news release said the legal defense would be funded by a foundation created by Pierce and another lawyer.
Second Amendment organizations also have offered support for Rittenhouse, including one Colorado-based group that has launched another defense fund for him.
National Foundation for Gun Rights Executive Director Dudley Brown told the Tribune the organization has not spoken with Rittenhouse’s family and has not had any direct conversations with his lawyers, but it decided to get involved because it wanted to take a stand against the “chaos” happening in cities across the country. Brown acknowledged Rittenhouse’s case “isn’t perfect,” but he said the defendant has a strong self-defense claim because, he believes, the people Rittenhouse shot pursued him first.
“I don’t think there are many people in America who wouldn’t have felt threatened if you were in that spot with Kyle there,” Brown said.
Numerous video clips posted online appear to show Rittenhouse at the scene Tuesday night, including several that show shootings and their aftermaths. The videos also indicated that he approached police before the shootings despite being out past curfew and a year too young to carry a gun openly in Wisconsin.
Prosecutors wrote that video showed Rittenhouse, armed with an AR-15-style rifle, running across a parking lot, trailed by Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha.
Video showed Rosenbaum, apparently unarmed, seemingly throwing something at Rittenhouse and missing him, and investigators later determined it was a plastic bag, prosecutors wrote. Prosecutors wrote that a witness told police that “as the defendant was walking, Rosenbaum was trying to get closer to the defendant” and Rittenhouse ran.
Several loud bangs were heard as the men were close together and Rosenbaum fell, prosecutors said. The witness told police Rosenbaum had tried to grab the gun, prosecutors wrote.
Rittenhouse got on his cellphone, called a friend, and audio from one of the videos caught him saying, “I just killed somebody,” the complaint alleges.
The charge of first-degree reckless homicide stems from that shooting.
Video shows that after that shooting, Rittenhouse ran with people in pursuit before someone swung at him, knocking off his hat, and Rittenhouse tripped and fell, prosecutors wrote.
A man carrying a skateboard and later identified as Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake, approached Rittenhouse as he was still on his back, prosecutors wrote. Huber reached for the gun as the skateboard hit Rittenhouse’s shoulder before the alleged gunman fired one shot, and Huber collapsed, prosecutors alleged.
Huber’s death is the source of the murder charge.
Prosecutors wrote that Rittenhouse then shot a man who had approached him who was identified as Gaige Grosskreutz of West Allis. Grosskreutz appeared to be holding a handgun when he was shot in the arm, prosecutors wrote. Wisconsin court records do not indicate that Grosskreutz has been charged with any crime. His shooting is the source of the attempted murder charge against Rittenhouse.
The police shooting came about 5 p.m. Sunday as the officers responded to a call from a woman who reported that her boyfriend was present but not supposed to be there, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice. At the scene, officers Rusten Sheskey and Vincent Arenas both unsuccessfully used Tasers, state authorities said in news releases. A third officer, Brittany Meronek, was also at the scene, authorities said.
In footage shared online, Blake walks from the sidewalk around the front of an SUV to the driver-side door as officers follow him with their guns pointed. As Blake opens the door and leans into the SUV, an officer identified by authorities as Sheskey grabs his shirt from behind and appears to open fire while Blake has his back turned.
The state Justice Department wrote that a knife was found on the driver-side floorboard of the vehicle. The department wrote in a statement that, “Mr. Blake admitted that he had a knife in his possession.” It was not clear from the statement whether state authorities believed the knife posed any threat to officers or anyone else.
On Friday evening, the Kenosha police union gave the first detailed account of officers’ perspective on Blake’s shooting.
The Associated Press wrote that an attorney for the Kenosha Professional Police Association, Brendan Matthews, issued a statement alleging that officers were aware that Blake had a warrant from a prior case after they were dispatched for a complaint that he was trying to take the caller’s keys and vehicle. Officers saw he was holding the knife, which he refused to drop, the statement said. Matthews alleged Blake fought with officers and put one in a headlock, the Associated Press reported.
“Based on the inability to gain compliance and control after using verbal, physical and less-lethal means, the officers drew their firearms,” Matthews said. “Mr. Blake continued to ignore the officers’ commands, even with the threat of lethal force now present.”
After two nights of peaceful protest, the mood in Kenosha was hopeful yet somber. In the racially diverse, economically struggling Uptown neighborhood, where the smell of smoke still hung in the air, some said the burden of overcoming the devastation and lack of services would fall on its residents, many of whom are Black.
“I can’t even cash my check because I can’t go into (the bank),” said Orlando Vinson, who has lived in the neighborhood most of his life. “We’re struggling out here. Half of us don’t have cars, half of us have to walk or catch the bus. We’re messed up while (arsonists and looters) are living their lives happily and get to talk about, ‘Oh, we went to Kenosha and burned down their stores.'”
Tribune reporter Robert McCoppin contributed.
