On the turbulent night of August 25, 2020, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, a 26-year-old White male named Anthony Huber was fatally shot amidst protests and civil unrest. The city was in its third night of demonstrations following the police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, which had left him paralyzed. The atmosphere was charged, with peaceful protests during the day giving way to property damage, arson, and clashes with law enforcement at night.
This volatile environment drew a mix of protesters, locals, and armed individuals, some of whom identified as a militia there to protect businesses.
Among those who traveled to Kenosha was Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old from Antioch, Illinois, armed with an AR-15-style rifle. Earlier in the evening, Rittenhouse had fatally shot another man, 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum, during a confrontation in a used car lot. Following that initial shooting, Rittenhouse fled the scene with a crowd in pursuit, shouting that he had just shot someone. It was during this chaotic chase that he stumbled and fell to the ground. As several people converged on him, Anthony Huber, who was an avid skateboarder and had one with him, rushed in. He struck Rittenhouse with his skateboard and reached for the rifle in what prosecutors and Huber's family would later describe as an attempt to disarm an active shooter. In the ensuing struggle, Rittenhouse fired a single, fatal shot into Huber's chest.
Immediately after shooting Huber, Rittenhouse shot and wounded a third man, Gaige Grosskreutz, who had approached him with a handgun. In the aftermath, Rittenhouse walked away from the scene with his hands in the air, passing by police vehicles, and later returned to his home in Illinois, where he was arrested the following day. He was charged with multiple felonies, including first-degree intentional homicide for the death of Anthony Huber and first-degree reckless homicide for the death of Joseph Rosenbaum.
The subsequent legal proceedings drew national attention. In his November 2021 trial, Rittenhouse's defense argued that he acted in self-defense, fearing for his life in each instance of the shootings. The prosecution contended that Rittenhouse was an aggressor who instigated the violence. After several days of testimony and deliberation, the jury acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse of all charges. The verdict was met with a range of reactions, from relief and vindication by his supporters to heartbreak and anger from the families of the victims. Anthony Huber's family, who described him as a hero who sacrificed himself to protect others, later filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Rittenhouse and a civil rights lawsuit against Kenosha law enforcement officials, alleging they were complicit in the night's violence.
