Wisconsin governor decided to place 500 National Guards on standby as the closing arguments for Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial are expected on Monday.
Rittenhouse, 18, was charged with intentional homicide, reckless homicide, attempted intentional homicide, and other charges after he fatally shot two men and wounded a third during protests in Kenosha following the police shooting of Jacob Blake last year.
Gov. Tony Evers said the Wisconsin National Guard would stage outside Kenosha and be available should they be requested by law enforcement.
“I urge folks who are otherwise not from the area to please respect the community by reconsidering any plans to travel there and encourage those who might choose to assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights to do so safely and peacefully,” Evers said in a statement.
Rittenhouse, who was 17 when he traveled to Kenosha armed with a semiautomatic weapon, said he was going to protect businesses amid the unrest in the city, NBC News reported.
He claims he fired in self-defense after he was attacked. Anthony Huber, 26, and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, were killed in the shooting, and Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, was injured.
However, prosecutors claim he was unjustified in using deadly force and only added to the chaos.
The protests in Kenosha followed the police shooting of Blake, a Black man, who was shot by a white officer on Aug. 23, 2020. Blake was left paralyzed from the waist down.
Following closing arguments, the jury will begin deliberations.
Rittenhouse faces life in prison if found guilty on the first-degree intentional homicide charge and up to 60 years on each of the other homicide-related charges.
He also faces two reckless endangerment charges, which carry up to 12 years each, and a misdemeanor weapons charge that carries a potential nine-month sentence.
