Lawyer: Illinois Teen Charged With Kenosha Shootings, Kyle Rittenhouse, A ‘Scapegoat’ Who May Fight Extradition

TOPLINE

The attorney representing Illinois teen Kyle Rittenhouse, who is charged with homicide for shooting Kenosha protesters, told Forbes  Saturday his “current intent is not to waive” extradition back to Wisconsin, where the teen could face a life sentence if convicted, and where the attorney said he could face threats of bodily harm while in custody.

KEY FACTS

Rittenhouse’s lawyer, John Pierce, had issued a three-page statement Friday, arguing for  the innocence of his client, who faces six criminal charges, on self-defense grounds and vilifying the protesters as being “determined to hurt Kyle,” and a “mob,” echoing a phrase used by President Trump to describe protesters.

Pierce, who also has represented Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and former adviser Carter Page,  followed that up Saturday in an interview with Forbes, saying he feels Rittenhouse would be in danger if sent to Wisconsin, where he has been charged as an adult. 

“He shouldn’t be detained anywhere,” said Pierce,  adding that “In Wisconsin he’s considered an adult, and he’s going to be placed potentially in a very, very dangerous adult population, general population in a situation in which … there are forces within the country right now that are trying to figure out a way for people to cause him harm.” (He did not specify any specific threats but said “take a look online.”)

Pierce, who has flown to Illinois to be near the juvenile facility where Rittenhouse is being held, said he was still “looking at our options,” with respect to extradition but said he fears for Rittenhouse’s safety if sent to Wisconsin.

Pierce also accused “the government of Wisconsin, the mayor and the governor” of  “trying to use [Rittenhouse] as a scapegoat to cover up …  the situation with the Jacob Blake case” —though he didn’t fully explain what he meant.

Surprising fact

In his statement, Pierce said the weapon Rittenhouse used in the shootings “did not cross state lines,” when Rittenhouse traveled from his home in Illinois to Wisconsin. Pierce would not say Saturday whose weapon it is or how it came to be in the possession of a 17 year old, which resulted in a weapons charge in addition to the homicide charges. “I’m not going to comment on the specifics of the litigation, but the weapon did not cross state lines,” Pierce said. 

crucial quote

Asked if his client had any remorse about the shootings, Pierce said he could not discuss his conversations with  Rittenhouse but added, “what I can tell you is that he knows he did not do anything wrong and we’re gonna prove it at trial.”

key background

Demonstrations broke out in Kenosha after Blake, a Black man, was shot in the back seven times Sunday by a Kenosha police officer. In the protests that followed, a shooting—captured on video, which quickly went viral—appeared to show a male fatally shoot two people and injure another. Rittenhouse was allegedly the person in the video and was charged Thursday in Wisconsin with five felonies, according to documents in the Wisconsin Circuit Court,  including first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide (which can carry a life prison term), attempted first-degree intentional homicide and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety. Rittenhouse also was charged with possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18, after he carried out the shootings with  what was identified in the complaint as a Smith & Wesson AR-15 style .223 rifle. (Pierce also said he plans to fight that charge based on the argument that at 17, Rittenhouse would be eligible to be part of a “well regulated Militia,” that is protected by the Constitution.)  Pierce said he is a co-founder of the #FightBack Foundation Inc., a Texas foundation created, the statement said, “to protect law abiding American citizens whose rights are being trampled on by state and local governments that are more concerned with appeasing mobs than protecting those rights.” The foundation, which already is raising money for Rittenhouse, is covering the legal fees, he said.

tangent

Pierce’s was not the only statement issued Friday to blame a shooting victim for their injuries. A statement from the Kenosha Professional Police Association, which generated almost immediate pushback from Blake’s family, says it contains “actual and undisputed facts” but differs significantly from a detailed statement put out earlier by the Kenosha Police Department—perhaps most significantly in that it says Blake had a knife in his left hand when confronted by police and ignored repeated commands to drop it. The police department report, posted on Facebook, states that during the investigation after “the initial incident, Mr. Blake admitted that he had a knife in his possession,” adding that agents with the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation, called DCI, “recovered a knife from the driver’s side floorboard of Mr. Blake’s vehicle.” Blake’s attorney could not be reached for comment Saturday but CNN reported that Blake’s uncle, Justin Blake, called the police union’s version of events “garbage” and “insulting,” adding his nephew didn’t have a weapon and “didn’t deserve to be shot seven times in his back.”

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