The man shot by teenaged Kyle Rittenhouse during the August 25, 2020 Kenosha, Wisconsin protests admitted Rittenhouse didn’t pull the trigger on his rifle until a handgun was aimed at him.
Gaige Grosskreutz testified in court on Monday that only when he aimed his handgun at Rittenhouse did Rittenhouse fire at him. Rittenhouse’s bullet struck Grosskreutz in the bicep, which he described as “being vaporized.”
Rittenhouse defense attorney Corey Chirafisi asked Grosskreutz, “So when you were standing 3-5 feet from [Rittenhouse] with your arms up in the air, he never fired. Right?”
“Correct,” Grosskreutz said.
“It wasn’t until you pointed your gun at him, advanced on him with your gun — now your hands down — pointed at him that he fired. Right?” Chirafisi asked again.
“Correct,” Grosskreutz replied again.
Immediately after Grosskreutz’s admission, Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger was shown on courtroom video with his face in his hand.
Grosskreutz claimed he believed Rittenhouse was an active shooter, so he pursued him and pointed his own handgun at Rittenhouse. Grosskreutz also had an expired concealed carry license.
Then-17-year-old Rittenhouse was part of a group of volunteers who protected Kenosha businesses during protests that escalated into looting and rioting that erupted in reaction to the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse also offered medical aid to injured protesters and helped clean graffiti from buildings.
Rittenhouse was attacked during the riots, and video footage has shown him firing his AR-15 rifle at his attackers, resulting in the fatal shooting of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26. Rosenbaum was characterized as having “erratic behavior” on the night of the shooting. Video showed Rosenbaum throwing a bag at Rittenhouse, threatening to kill Rittenhouse and chasing him before the shooting. Huber had struck Rittenhouse with a skateboard before he was shot.
Rittenhouse has pleaded not guilty, and he and his legal team have maintained that his shooting was in self-defense.
He faces one misdemeanor and five felonies, including first-degree intentional homicide. Rittenhouse was jailed for two months in fall 2020 before posting $2 million bail thanks to a crowdfunding effort.
