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"I did nothing wrong.
I've defended myself, 'said Rittenhouse
Photo: Mark Hertzberg / AP
Teenage boy Kyle Rittenhouse burst into tears when he testified in his own defense at his Wisconsin trial.
The 18-year-old is charged with killing Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounding Gaige Großkreutz during the protests against racial justice in the city of Kenosha on August 25, 2020.
He pleaded not guilty.
Now he said he had acted in self-defense.
Rosenbaum said he would kill him and attacked him "from ambush" before Rittenhouse shot him with an AR-15 rifle.
"I did what I had to do to stop the person who attacked me."
In a dramatic testimony in his own defense, 18-year-old Rittenhouse attempted to portray that he wanted to help others by providing medical assistance during the protests and that he did not use his weapon until he was attacked.
The prosecutors, in turn, tried to portray Rittenhouse as a vigilante who carried a gun into an unpredictable scuffle and wanted to use it.
They asked him about his ammunition and his predilection for violent video games.
"I did nothing wrong.
I've defended myself, 'said Rittenhouse.
The 18-year-old was quiet on the stand until his lawyer asked him to describe his encounter with Rosenbaum.
According to video evidence, he chased the teenager until he turned around and shot Rosenbaum four times.
"I didn't notice Mr. Rosenbaum until he came out from behind the car and attacked me," Rittenhouse told the jury before he began to breathe heavily and lose his composure.
The judge then called for a break.
Moments earlier, Rittenhouse had testified that Rosenbaum had threatened to kill him twice before the last encounter in the parking lot of a used car dealer in Kenosha.
The prosecution had laid down their evidence on Tuesday.
Protest and violence in Kenosha
At the time of the shooting, Kenosha had witnessed two nights of chaotic protests over the police shooting of the black Jacob Blake.
Several shops were burned down and looting took place.
Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to control the crowd.
The case marks the most high-profile civil self-defense trial in the United States since George Zimmerman was acquitted for the fatal shots fired at Trayvon Martin, an unarmed black teenager, in Florida in 2013.
kim / AP / Reuters
