Nov. 2, 2021 2:45p
(WGTD)---The Kyle Rittenhouse trial got underway Tuesday morning with opening statements from the attorneys.
The central issue is one of self-defense. Prosecutor Tom Binger—the first to address the jury—brought it up himself, saying that the evidence will show that Rittenhouse in his opinion did not have a reasonable belief to think that his life was in danger when he pointed and fired his semi-automatic rifle, killing two people and injuring a third during a night of rioting in the aftermath of the Jacob Blake police shooting. "There were hundreds of people on the street that night, experiencing the same chaos, the same loud noises, the same gunfire...the same hostile conversations with people who believed the opposite of them," Binger said. "And yet out of these hundreds of people, only one person killed anyone that night," he said.
Jurors will need to decide whether Rittenhouse's use of deadly force was reasonable. Defense attorney Mark Richards naturally claimed it was. "He acted in self-defense," Richards told the jury. "The evidence will show that his actions on August 25th, 2020 were reasonable under the circumstances as they existed that night being attacked by Mr. Rosenbaum," he said.
Richards portrayed Rosenbaum--the first man shot to death by Rittenhouse--as the main aggressor, saying at one point during the night Rosenbaum directly threatened the life of Rittenhouse and another man. Richards also claimed that video of the shooting shows that Rosenbaum was lunging toward Rittenhouse just before he was shot in an attempt to steal his gun.
Rittenhouse shot and killed another man, and injured a third, when a "mob" started to attack Rittenhouse, giving him a legitimate reason to believe that his life was in danger, claimed Richards, adding that there were times in the encounters in which Rittenhouse refrained from pulling the trigger when he could have had. The second man to die that night--Anthony Huber--was shot in the chest as he was trying to disarm Rittenhouse, Richards said.
The jury was seated Monday evening after a full day of voir dire.
During Tuesday morning's opening statements, several jurors listened with grim expressions, some sporting frowns and keeping their arms folded firmly across their chests, according to a pool report. Others leaned forward, furrowing their brows as they sought to follow the state's account of the shootings.
Face masks aren't required in the courthouse, though a few jurors wore them.
Rittenhouse looked on in apparent calm in a dark pinstripe suit and tie. He occasionally fidgeted with a water bottle or glanced toward the jury box.
His mom, Wendy Rittenhouse, sat behind him on a nearby spectators' bench.
The trial is expected to last two weeks.
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