The defense team for 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse on Friday said it plans to fight his extradition from Illinois to Wisconsin to face two homicide charges for a shooting that left two people dead during police brutality protests in Kenosha.
Attorney John Pierce announced the planned challenge during a video conference hearing in Lake County court. The lawyer said he hadn’t received a copy of a Wisconsin arrest warrant for his client.
“These are going to be involving issues of some complexity frankly that have not arisen in the country for some time and so there’s going to be a lot of research involved in this,” Pierce said.
The judge set another hearing for Oct. 9.
Rittenhouse of Antioch, Ill., was arrested last month and indicted as an adult on charges of being a fugitive from justice, first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree reckless homicide. He’s accused of shooting three people, two fatally, in Kenosha on Aug. 25 during protests that erupted against racial inequality and police brutality after a police officer shot Jacob Blake in the Wisconsin city, leaving him paralyzed.
A complaint said Rittenhouse killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and injured Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, with an AR-15-style rifle near the Civic Center Park where protesters had congregated.
Graphic video of the shooting captured on a cellphone shows Rittenhouse running down the street after having allegedly shot Rosenbaum as people ran after him. While fleeing, Rittenhouse falls, at which point Huber attempts to yank the rifle from the teenager who shoots him. Huber takes a few steps before collapsing to the street.
Pierce said Rittenhouse acted in self-defense.
“This was classic self-defense and we are going to prove it. We will obtain justice for Kyle no matter how hard the fight or how long it takes,” he said last month.
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