Rittenhouse says man he shot threatened to kill him
“I didn’t do anything wrong. I defended myself,” he testified.
Seconds after that gunshot, Rittenhouse turned and saw Rosenbaum coming at him with his arms out front, he said. “I remember his hand on the barrel of my gun,” Rittenhouse testified. He then shot Rosenbaum four times, killing him.
Rittenhouse then tried to run down the street to where police were situated to turn himself in, he testified, but a “mob was chasing me.” While running, he became lightheaded and fell to the ground, he said.
An unknown person jumped at him trying to kick him, and Rittenhouse fired at the person twice. “I thought if I were to be knocked out, he would have stomped my face in if I didn’t fire.”
Anthony Huber then came at him, struck him with a skateboard, and grabbed his gun, he testified. Rittenhouse shot him once, killing him.
Finally, he saw Gaige Grosskreutz lunge at him and point a pistol at his head, so Rittenhouse shot him, he testified. Grosskreutz was wounded.
Rittenhouse is the defense’s seventh witness and is crucial to the defense’s argument that he acted in self-defense on the night of August 25, 2020, when he killed two people and wounded another. The prosecution has instead sought to show Rittenhouse illegally possessed the gun and acted criminally.
Rittenhouse pleaded not guilty to six charges, including first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide and first-degree attempted intentional homicide. Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed curfew violation charge on Tuesday, saying prosecutors had failed to present evidence to support it.
The events of that night, almost all captured on video, are hardly in dispute. The question before the jury is whether Rittenhouse’s actions were reasonable.
Rittenhouse breaks down on stand
Rittenhouse began his testimony Wednesday by telling jurors he is now studying nursing at Arizona State University. He testified that he had worked as a lifeguard in Kenosha, was part of a police explorer program and knows CPR and basic life support.
He lived in Antioch, Illinois, with his mother, and his father lived in Kenosha. He testified that he went into Kenosha on the morning of August 25 to clean up graffiti, and then again that night with a rifle and small medic kit and joined up with a group of armed people. “I went down there to provide first aid,” he said. He said he did not go there looking for trouble.
Rittenhouse told jurors that Rosenbaum threatened to kill him twice that night. In one instance, Rosenbaum screamed, “if I catch any of you f***ers alone, I’ll f***ing kill you,” according to Rittenhouse.
At one point in the night, he became separated from the other armed people in his group. He walked toward a parking lot and said Rosenbaum, hiding behind a vehicle, “ambushed me.” Rosenbaum began running at him and cornered him, he said — and then Rittenhouse broke down into tears, leading to a short break in the trial.
Jurors appeared attentive and some appeared to take extensive notes during his testimony, according to a pool reporter.
Armed paramedic never said he regretted not killing Rittenhouse, friend testifies
But under oath in court on Wednesday, Marshall testified that he had made up those words and that Grosskreutz had not actually said that.
“I lied. He never said that,” Marshall testified. “100% made it all up.”
He did so “out of pure anger” and in an attempt to stick up for his friend, he said.
Defense witnesses: Rittenhouse was sweaty, pale
Four witnesses testified for the defense on Tuesday after the prosecution rested its case.
Nicholas Smith, the defense’s first witness, testified that he was on the roof of the car dealership with a group of armed people when he heard gunshots. He testified that he saw Rittenhouse sweating and pale shortly afterward.
“He repeats, ‘I just shot someone,’ over and over, and I believe at some point he did say he had to shoot someone,” Smith said.
JoAnn Fiedler, an armed woman who traveled from West Bend to Kenosha the night of the shootings, similarly testified that Rittenhouse was pale, shaking and stammering his words after the shootings. She described Rittenhouse “pulling his hair back and pulling it back really hard and just, his comment was, ‘my God, my life might be over’ and just, we’re just like, ‘OK, calm down.'”
Nathan DeBruin, a freelance photojournalist, testified about some of the fiery unrest and destruction that he saw in Kenosha last year.
Finally, Lucas Zanin testified that he was across the street from a parking lot in Kenosha and saw people destroying vehicles. The defense played for jurors video of that destruction, which was filmed by Zanin’s stepdaughter.
CNN’s Brad Parks and Carma Hassan contributed to this report.
