The AR-15 rifle that Kyle Rittenhouse used to fatally shoot two attackers and injure in a third in self-defense during a riot in Wisconsin in August 2020 has been destroyed by Wisconsin authorities.
Video posted on YouTube by Fox6 Milwaukee shows officials examining the firearm before having it destroyed through “mechanical shredding.”
Agents in protective gear fed the rifle and accessories into an American Pulverizer Gun Shredder system which left only twisted chunks of metal behind.
In January, Kenosha, Wis. Judge Bruce Schroeder had approved an agreement between attorneys that called for the AR-15 to be destroyed on camera. At the time, Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger anticipated the state crime lab would destroy the rifle in April.
Rittenhouse did not appear in the courtroom during the hearing.
Mark Richards, Rittenhouse’s attorney, had filed a motion with the Kenosha County Circuit Court on Jan. 19 asking for the firearm to be returned to his client. Richards said Rittenhouse wanted his AR-15 back so it can be destroyed.
Rittenhouse spokesman Dave Hancock told reporters that the motion was necessary “legal process … The DA (Kenosha County district attorney) must return his belongings. When the rifle is returned, it will be destroyed.”
Hancock has previously said, “There’s nothing to celebrate about that weapon; there isn’t. Kyle has no interest and no want to recover that weapon, and absolutely no interest to sell it or anything.”
During an appearance on The Charlie Kirk Show, Rittenhouse said he didn’t “want anything to do with” his AR-15. The teen had broken down in tears during his trial in November as he described using the weapon to kill two men and injure a third in self-defense. His lawyers later revealed that the teen was suffering from PTSD as a result.
The AR-15 rifle was the center of media footage during Rittenhouse’s trial when Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger raised the rifle in court and pointed it at the jury with his finger on the trigger.
Rittenhouse announced last month that he is launching a new project designed to hold media organizations accountable for their “lies.” The exonerated teen also named multiple celebrities who he and his team may sue.
Dubbed The Media Accountability Project, Rittenhouse told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson that the initiative will act “as a tool to help fundraise and hold the media accountable for the lies they said and deal with them in court.”
“I don’t want to see anybody else have to deal with what I went through. So I want to hold them accountable for what they did to me, because I don’t want to see anybody have to go through what I went through,” Rittenhouse said.
