On Thursday, a Wisconson judge denied a request for Kenosha sniper Kyle Rittenhouse to be arrested again, despite prosecutors’ complaints that the teenager violated the terms of his release by moving.
Judge Bruce Schroeder ordered the 18-year-old suspect to report his new addresses to the sheriff’s department, but said he did not lose his freedom when he packed up and moved.
“To issue a warrant now for a defendant who has appeared at all hearings, I would be breaking the law,” said the judge during a live broadcast. “And I’m not going to do that.”
“After what this city has been through in the last six months, I don’t want any more problems,” said Schroeder. “The police don’t want any more problems.”
Rittenhouse is facing charges of murder and attempted murder on August 25, the deaths of two Black Lives Matter protesters and the wounding of a third.
The teenager was with groups of armed militias guarding business in Kenosha amid looting after the police shot at Jacob Blake.
When confronted by protesters on the night of the fatal incident, Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz at the meeting.
Rittenhouse is free with a $ 2 million bond, most of it raised by supporters.
But prosecutors shouted when Rittenhouse moved from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to what his lawyers described as a “safe house” due to death threats.
“It’s just crazy and it’s a problem,” said defense lawyer Mark Richards. “There is a substantial bond posted by people who support Kyle Rittenhouse.”
The district attorney’s office wanted the bail to increase by $ 200,000 and the teenager to be arrested again until he could get the additional money.
Huber’s father, John Huber, Grosskreutz, and Huber and Rosenbaum’s lawyers attended the hearing broadcast live on Thursday.
“This boy, we don’t know where he is,” said Huber. “You don’t know where he lives. Nobody in that court knows where he lives. “
Assistant district attorney Thomas Binger also argued that Rittenhouse has flaunted his freedom since being released on bail, including showing up at a bar with his parents in a shirt that said “Free as Fk” and showing signs of white supremacy.
Binger said the teenager is now using a mailbox that is neither in Illinois, where he lived, nor in Wisconsin, where the shooting occurred.
“We don’t know where the accused killer is,” said Binger. “This is the end result.”
“I am simply asking that this defendant be treated like anyone else,” he said. “Each defendant is required to provide this information.”
Schroeder acknowledged that Rittenhouse violated the terms of the bail by failing to inform the court that he had moved – but said it was not enough to arrest him again or increase the bail amount.
“Most people who are free do not know where they are,” he said.
Richards, meanwhile, assured the court that his client would not lose an audience.
“My client is going to show up,” he said. “He hopes to litigate these offenses in the court of his honor. We have nothing to fear. The truth will free my client. “