The judge presiding over Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial has ruled that prosecutors are not allowed to allege that Rittenhouse is affiliated with any far-right groups, or that he had attacked a woman months before the shooting.
Rittenhouse, who is facing trial on Nov. 1, is facing multiple counts, including homicide for the shooting of three people. Rittenhouse alleges that he was acting in self-defense after being attacked during the riot over the police shooting of Jacob Blake. (RELATED: Alleged Kenosha Shooter Told The Daily Caller He Was There To ‘Help People,’ Protect Property Before Shooting)
Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber during the riots. He also wounded Gaige Grosskreutz.
During a hearing Friday, Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger asked to argue during the trial that Kyle Rittenhouse had ties to the right-wing group, the Proud Boys. Binger pointed out to the judge that Rittenhouse had been seen at a bar with members of the group’s Wisconsin chapter and that he had traveled to Miami to meet the national president of the group shortly after.
Judge Rules Prosecutors Can’t Show Kyle Rittenhouse Link To Proud Boys At Trial In Kenosha Shootings https://t.co/O2bFL5dehB pic.twitter.com/FtvRx6vttA
— CBS Chicago (@cbschicago) September 17, 2021
Binger had also asked the judge to allow evidence showing that Kyle Rittenhouse had gotten into a physical altercation with a girl who was fighting his sister in June of 2020.
Rittenhouse’s attorney, Corey Chirafisi, argued conversely that none of what Binger had asked to present was relevant. Chirafisi stated that the shooting couldn’t have been racially motivated as both Rittenhouse and the men he shot were white and that there is no connection between Rittenhouse and the Proud Boys on the night of the shooting.
Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder agreed with Chirafisi and stated that evidence of ties to the Proud Boys and the altercation with the woman would be excluded from the trial.
Schroeder had also denied a defense request to argue that Rosenbaum had attempted to steal Rittenhouse’s firearm because he was a sex offender and could not possess a gun.
He also delayed ruling on the defense’s request to dismiss a charge that alleged that Rittenhouse possessed the firearm illegally, as he was a minor, and whether or not to allow testimony from an expert on police use-of-force.
The next hearing is set for Oct. 5.