Politico | Trump defends gunman charged with murdering two in Kenosha
- US president suggested that Kyle Rittenhouse acted in self-defence against protesters in Wisconsin
- Trump plans to travel to Kenosha as protests continue to grip the city for a second week
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Matthew Choi on politico.com on August 31, 2020.
US President Donald Trump on Monday portrayed the gunman charged with murdering two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as a victim, suggesting that the Illinois teenager was acting in self-defence.
Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, was arrested last week and charged with two counts of first-degree murder for shooting during an anti-racist protest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Video of Rittenhouse at the protests showed him carrying an assault rifle and telling someone on the phone that “I just killed somebody”, according to the criminal complain against him. He was taken into custody the following day.
The criminal complaint said he killed a man, Joseph Rosenbaum, after Rosenbaum threw a plastic bag at Rittenhouse and tried to grab his gun. A group of protesters chased after Rittenhouse, yelling that he had shot someone.
But speaking at a White House news conference on Monday, Trump suggested that the protesters were the instigators, out to get Rittenhouse, and that he was acting in self-defence.
“That was an interesting situation,” the president said. “He was trying to get away from them, I guess it looks like, and he fell and then they very violently attacked him, and it was something that we are looking at right now and it’s under investigation. But I guess he was in very big trouble. He probably would’ve been killed. It’s under investigation.”
The White House has so far avoided commenting on Rittenhouse, saying that there is not enough information on his case. Trump has focused instead on criticising anti-racist protesters and Democrats for not condemning looting and rioting, even after Joe Biden, the Democratic presidential nominee, vehemently condemned rioting and looting in addresses last week and again on Monday.