Tiktok, Facebook Kyle Rittenhouse and a screenshot from his Trump rally pic
Kyle Rittenhouse, the Antioch, Illinois, teenager accused in a deadly shooting at a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Kenosha, Wisconsin, recently attended a rally for President Donald Trump, and it appears he was in the front row.
Rittenhouse filled his Facebook page with support for law enforcement and was part of a program for youth interested in law enforcement careers. He was a fan of the thin blue line flag supporting law enforcement and he indicated support for Blue Lives Matter in his profile picture. Only 17, videos and witnesses say, he showed up at the Kenosha demonstrations as part of a citizen vigilante group geared toward defending people and property after riots left businesses ablaze. The demonstrations have been going on for several days as a result of the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha police, a shooting that is still under investigation.
“TODAY, I will be sending federal law enforcement and the National Guard to Kenosha, WI to restore LAW and ORDER! We will NOT stand for looting, arson, violence, and lawlessness on American streets. My team just got off the phone with Governor Evers who agreed to accept federal assistance (Portland should do the same!)” Trump wrote on Twitter. He didn’t mention Rittenhouse.
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Heavy has confirmed via Illinois court records that Rittenhouse is in custody in Illinois, where he is accused of being a fugitive from justice. The records say he is also accused of first-degree intentional homicide in Kenosha.
Rittenhouse’s name, which was widely shared on social media as the man in a green shirt who opened fire after being chased down the street, is contained in the court records. Heavy obtained a court record from the Lake County Courts in Illinois that confirms Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, is being accused in Kenosha County courts in the State of Wisconsin “with the offense of first-degree intentional homicide.” He is accused in a warrant having “fled the State of Wisconsin with the intent to avoid prosecution in that offense.” The document was filed August 26. Blake, 29, survived the earlier shooting by Kenosha police and is paralyzed, his family’s lawyer has said.
One of the two deceased victims has been named as Anthony Huber, an avid skateboarder.
Here’s what you need to know:
Rittenhouse’s TikTok Video on the Trump Rally Is One of Only Two on His Page
Rittenhouse’s TikTok page shows he was in the front row at a recent rally for President Donald Trump. “Trump rally!” the caption says. It’s one of only two videos on his page. He worked as a lifeguard at a YMCA, according to Buzzfeed. The rally was in Des Moines, Iowa, in January.
At one point, Rittenhouse walked toward authorities with his hands up. An eyewitness told Heavy she saw that scene directly. However, Rittenhouse was able to leave the area. When asked how that could have happened, Kenosha County Sheriff Dave Beth said in a news conference that an officer may not have been aware what exactly was going on, saying, “There was screaming, there’s hollering, there’s chanting, there’s a squad car running, there’s (police vehicles) idling. If the officer happened to be in the car, the radio traffic was nonstop.”
Here are the Illinois court records:
A Lake County court record on Kyle Rittenhouse.
Some on social media say he goes by the name Kyle Lewis. That is his mother’s last name, but court records use Kyle Rittenhouse.
Illinois court records
According to court records, he is only 17. Witnesses told Heavy at the scene that he was with a group of white males who came to Kenosha to defend property after Black Lives Matter protesters caused a series of arson fires and other property damage throughout the city. In one instance, an officer was struck with a brick. A call for armed citizens to defend people and property then went out on social media, although Kenosha police have not yet confirmed which group Rittenhouse was associated with if any. Dramatic photos from the scene show him being struck by a man with a skateboard at one point in the sequence of events that saw a man now accused of being Rittenhouse being chased down the street before opening fire.
Pray for folks on the streets in Kenosha tonight. #KenoshaProtests #KenoshaRiot
In this video from @BGOnTheScene, protesters chase down a suspected shooter, but he manages to get some shots off. This is graphic.
Dramatic photos emerged from the scene.
A man (R) was shot in the chest as clashes between protesters and armed civilians who protect the streets of Kenosha against the arson during the third day of protests over the shooting of a black man Jacob Blake by police officer in Wisconsin, United States on August 25, 2020.
The shootings erupted the evening of August 25 as demonstrators and counter-demonstrators milled in the streets and were pushed back from a park and courthouse by authorities. A series of clashes unfolded, and witnesses and videos show several different incidents of gunfire erupting in sequence. Witnesses and dispatch audio indicated there might be more than one shooter. Rittenhouse is the only accused shooter named so far.
Two people died and a third was shot during demonstrations in Kenosha, Wisconsin, shortly before midnight on August 25 in what witnesses and videos indicate was a chaotic series of shootings in the street. Graphic videos show a victim lying on the ground with a head injury. A person in the video claims that Rittenhouse was shouting that he wasn’t the shooter before falling to the ground and opening fire.
The unrest sparked after Blake, 29, was shot and paralyzed by a Kenosha police officer in an incident still under investigation. A video showing that shooting went viral.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the victims are “a 26-year-old man from the Kenosha County community of Silver Lake and a 36-year-old Kenosha man. A 26-year-old West Allis man was wounded.” Loved ones identified one of the deceased victims as Anthony Huber and said he died a hero trying to stop the gunman.
Here’s what you need to know:
Photos Show Rittenhouse Cleaning Graffiti Before the Shootings; Old Photos Show Him in What Appears to Be a Police Cadet Uniform
Kyle Rittenhouse and his mother.
Photos have emerged showing Rittenhouse cleaning graffiti off a Kenosha building before the shootings. You can see them here.
Photos on Rittenhouse’s mother’s Facebook page show him in what appears to be a police cadet uniform and a firefighter’s uniform. The picture contains the words, “We Black the Blue” and a heart with a thin blue line flag in it.
A now deleted Facebook post indicates he was part of the Grayslake-Lindenhurst-Hainesville Public Safety Cadet Program in 2017. A photo shows Kyle Rittenhouse participating in a program for youths who showed an interest in law enforcement. Heavy has contacted the PD there for comment.
FacebookKyle Rittenhouse
“On August 25, 2020 at about 11:45 p.m. Kenosha Police, along with assisting agencies, responded to the area of 63rd Street and Sheridan Road for reports of shots being fired and multiple gunshot victims,” Kenosha police wrote in a news release.
FacebookKyle Rittenhouse
“The shooting resulted in two fatalities and a third gunshot victim was transported to a hospital with serious, but non-life threatening injuries. The shooting investigation is active an ongoing. No further details regarding the shooting will be released at this time. The names, ages and cities of residence for the victims are still being determined.”
Police have not indicated there is any other suspect.
Kenosha Mayor John Antaramian called it a “difficult” and “devastating time” in the community of Kenosha. He said people have “differences of opinion…but violence in the community is not acceptable.” He said violence to people and property is not acceptable. He thanked Jacob Blake’s mother who said such behavior should stop. “That is appreciated,” he said.
He said Kenosha will recover “in the long run. We will work together to resolve our issues. We will make this a better place to live. But it will take time, and it will take healing.”
He said Kenosha is not going to “let the violence continue.”
Screenshots from Rittenhouse’s Facebook page shows that his profile picture indicated support for Blue Lives Matter. It shows Rittenhouse holding a large weapon with the words blue lives matter in a circle around him. His Facebook cover photo showed him with a large weapon. The photos are filled with law enforcement graphics, some honoring fallen officers and others showing a thin blue line flag. The page has been deleted.
@KenoshaPolice This is the shooter right here. Kyle Rittenhouse its funny to me that twitter was able to identify him before your sorry excuse of a law enforcement department could, real shame. If he isnt brought to justice there will be HELL to pay.
However, people saved the screenshots of his page before it was taken down.
A photo from the suspect’s Facebook page showed him in a thin blue line flag shirt as far back as 2018, when he would have been around age 15.
FacebookKyle Rittenhouse
Another old photo shows him in camouflage as a young kid.
FacebookKyle Rittenhouse
One photo showing him wearing a large weapon shows him wearing American flag socks.
He has open Kenosha County traffic cases from August 19 on accusations of speeding on the freeway and operating without a valid license. Those records also gives his address as Antioch.
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