MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) – A judge will hold a hearing next week to arrest or increase bail for an 18-year-old Illinois man accused of opening fire during a police brutality protest in Wisconsin after he allegedly failed to address in court.
Judge Bruce Schroeder scheduled the hearing on Thursday afternoon for Kyle Rittenhouse, accused of shooting Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz, killing Rosenbaum and Huber and injuring Grosskreutz during the protests in Kenosha in August.
Demonstrations began after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a black man, in the back. Rittenhouse, then 17, claims the protesters attacked him and shot him in self-defense.
Prosecutors allege Rittenhouse moved out of the Antioch, Illinois flat she shared with her mother after posting a $ 2 million bail in November and has not given the court his new address. This week they filed a motion asking Schroeder to issue an arrest warrant for Rittenhouse and increase his bond by $ 200,000.
Rittenhouse’s lawyers have countered that Rittenhouse has been receiving threats and has moved into an “undisclosed safe house” after being released from prison. In court records they said they offered to reveal the address if prosecutors would keep it a secret, but the district’s deputy prosecutor, Thomas Binger, refused, saying the address is on public record.
They included an address in the files along with a request for Schroeder to keep it sealed, but Binger replied that it is only a mailbox and does not meet Rittenhouse’s bail conditions.
Rittenhouse, who is white, traveled to Kenosha on August 25 after a paramilitary group called on social media for people to protect businesses amid concern. He faces several charges, including homicide and being a minor in possession of a firearm.
Supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement have painted Rittenhouse as a happy white supremacist. Conservatives annoyed by the destruction of property during some protests against police brutality last summer have portrayed him as a patriot exercising his right to bear arms and has raised the $ 2 million needed to get out of jail.
Rittenhouse on Monday fired John Pierce, the Los Angeles attorney who led the fundraising effort.
Pierce withdrew from the criminal case in December after prosecutors alleged he had his own “significant financial difficulties” and should not be allowed to raise money for Rittenhouse. He remained as Rittenhouse’s attorney in civil matters, leaving the criminal case to attorney Mark Richards.
Pierce confirmed that he and Rittenhouse had separated, tweeting that he had struggled with “every fiber” of his being for Rittenhouse.
Rittenhouse supporters tweeted to their FreeKyleUSA account Thursday that Rittenhouse fired Pierce Monday and hired another Los Angeles attorney, Robert Barnes.
Pierce tweeted that he had struggled with “every fiber” of his being for Rittenhouse. Barnes tweeted that he was “happy to join the #KyleRittenhouse team.”
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