KENOSHA, Wisconsin (AP) – An 18-year-old from Illinois accused of fatally shooting two people during a protest in southeastern Wisconsin last year is banned from associating with white supremacists under a judge’s recently modified bail conditions.
Kyle Rittenhouse was 17 during the August 25 demonstration in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as hundreds protested the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man. Rittenhouse was charged with several charges, including reckless and intentional homicide, risk of extinction and minor possession of a firearm.
Prosecutors allege that Rittenhouse, who is white, left his home in Antioch, Illinois, and traveled to Kenosha to answer a militia call to protect companies. Kenosha was going through several nights of chaotic street demonstrations after a white officer shot Blake in the back during a domestic disorder, leaving Blake paralyzed.
Rittenhouse opened fire with an assault rifle during the protest, killing Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz, officials said. Rittenhouse pleaded not guilty to all charges and argued that he shot self-defense. Conservatives came together around him, generating enough money to pay his $ 2 million bail.
According to online court records, a Wisconsin judge modified Rittenhouse’s release conditions on Friday to note that Rittenhouse “must not be intentional in conduct with any person or group of people known to harm, threaten, harass or threaten others based on their race, beliefs about religion, color, nationality or gender. ”
He is also prevented from possessing and consuming alcohol and from having firearms.
Prosecutors requested modifications after Rittenhouse was seen drinking at a bar in the town of Mount Pleasant, in southeastern Wisconsin, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Milwaukee, earlier this month. The legal drinking age is 21, but in Wisconsin, Rittenhouse could legally drink alcohol because he was with his mother.
According to WMTV, prosecutors wrote in their request that Rittenhouse also posed for a photo outside Pudgy’s Pub with two men while they made the “OK” sign with their hands, a symbol used by white supremacists. Prosecutors also claimed that five men in the tavern serenade Rittenhouse with a song that became the anthem of the Proud Boys, a neo-fascist group.