A 17-year-old was arrested Wednesday and charged with first-degree intentional homicide for the shooting death of two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Kyle Rittenhouse, of Antioch, Illinois, is seen on video walking up to police with his hands in the air and a rifle slung across his body just moments after shooting a protester in the head, another in the chest, killing them both, and wounding one other. Police are seen driving right past Rittenhouse as bystanders shout that he just killed someone to officers.
Rittenhouse can be heard saying, “I’ve just killed somebody.”
According to the Daily Mail, sheriffs have yet to confirm if Rittenhouse is part of the vigilante groups that have been patrolling city streets to protect local businesses from looting during the ongoing protests. However, social media users have pulled posts suggesting that the teen is an avid supporter of Blue Lives Matter.
Protests have erupted in Kenosha over the shooting of unarmed Black man Jacob Blake by police officers. Blake was shot in the back by officers as he was trying to get into his vehicle, a vehicle in which three of his sons sat. Blake is paralyzed from the waist down as a result of the shooting.
