Wisconsin law prohibits anyone under age 18 from going armed, but Rittenhouse’s attorneys argued that statutes actually prohibit minors only from carrying short-barreled rifles and shotguns. The judge began the hearing by denying a defense request to drop the weapons possession charge against Rittenhouse. Schroeder held off on deciding whether Black can testify at the trial until he hears testimony from a prosecution expert on the use of force. But if Rittenhouse hadn’t been armed with a gun, he may not have been justified in using deadly force, Black said. He also questioned whether Rittenhouse would have been justified in using lethal force if he hadn’t had a gun.īlack responded that he has taught civilian self-defense courses and that Binger was presenting a hypothetical situation. The shooting left Blake paralyzed from the waist down.Īssistant District Attorney Thomas Binger argued that Black is an expert in the use of force by police, not civilians. The city was in the throes of several nights of chaotic demonstrations sparked by a white police officer’s decision to shoot Jacob Blake, a Black man, during a domestic disturbance. 25, 2020, in response to a call from a Kenosha militia to help protect businesses from protesters.

Rittenhouse was 17 years old when he made the short trip from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to Kenosha on the night of Aug. “A citizen in that position, given those indicators, would it be reasonable for them to believe they were about to be assaulted?” Black said. Black testified that video shows Rosenbaum chasing Rittenhouse and reaching for the teenager’s gun, Huber attacking Rittenhouse with a skateboard and trying to wrestle away his gun, and Grosskreutz running at him with a pistol in his hand. The expert, John Black, spent hours outlining the moments that led to Kyle Rittenhouse’s decisions to shoot Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz, offering a preview of the defense team’s strategy when Rittenhouse’s trial begins next month. (AP) - An Illinois man who shot three people during a protest over police brutality in Wisconsin last year was justified because the men confronted him and two of them tried to wrestle his gun away, a use-of-force expert called by the defense testified at a pretrial hearing Tuesday.

History of the militia