Kyle Howard Rittenhouse is an American man who shot three men, two fatally, during the civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020, when he was aged 17. Rittenhouse was acquitted at his trial in November 2021. He testified that he had acted in self-defense.
Rittenhouse in 2021
Rittenhouse at a Turning Point USA event in June 2022
On August 25, 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old from Antioch, Illinois, shot and killed two men and wounded another man in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The shootings occurred during the protests, riots, and civil unrest that followed the shooting of Jacob Blake. Race was a major theme in U.S. media commentary, although Rittenhouse and those he shot were white. Rittenhouse was armed with an AR-15 style rifle and had joined a group of armed people in Kenosha who said that they were in Kenosha to protect businesses.
Rittenhouse earlier on the night of the shooting
A roadblock pays tribute to Anthony Huber on the road on which he was killed
A man holds a "Free Kyle" sign near Bradford High School during President Donald Trump's visit on September 1, 2020.
Rittenhouse speaking at AmericaFest, a four-day Turning Point USA conference in Phoenix, Arizona that featured Republican speakers, on December 21, 2021.