An extradition hearing for the teenager charged in connection with two fatal shootings and the wounding of another man during the Kenosha protests has been postponed for a month so his family can hire a private attorney.
Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, is due back in court at 9 a.m. Sept. 25.
Prosecutors on Thursday charged Rittenhouse with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless endangerment.
The hearing at the Lake County courthouse in Waukegan was supposed to be broadcast live on YouTube, but apparently due to technical problems, only the last few seconds were available for public viewing. Due to concerns about the coronavirus, the public and media were not allowed in the courtroom.
Rittenhouse has hired John Pierce, managing partner and founder of Pierce Bainbridge, a firm that has represented former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Reuters reported. In a tweet, Pierce said he plans to bring in a “SEAL Team” of former assistant U.S. attorneys.
The shootings happened late Tuesday during unrest and protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old father of six who is in the hospital and has been left paralyzed from the waist down.
Videos posted on social media of Tuesday night’s events show Rittenhouse roaming the streets of Kenosha armed with a rifle.
Some of the footage shows a shooter being chased into a used car lot by someone before shots are heard and the person lies dead. The shooter then runs down the street, where he is chased by several people shouting he just shot someone. He stumbles to the ground and fires as several people run toward him, killing another man and injuring a third.
The two men killed were Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, of Kenosha, and Anthony Huber, 26, of Silver Lake, about 15 miles west of the city. The injured man is Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, of West Allis, about 30 miles northwest of Kenosha.
Rittenhouse’s attorney Lin Wood said Thursday the teenager was acting in self-defense.
Contributing: AP
