On the fourth day of the trial, jurors were shown graphic videos from the chaotic night in 2020 when shootings broke out after demonstrations in Kenosha, Wis.
The fourth day of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial in Kenosha, Wis., was marked by graphic video of the shootings on Aug.25,2020, and by emotional testimony by a witness who was only feet away from Mr. Rittenhouse as he shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, one of three men who were shot that day. The prosecution called Richie McGinniss, the video director for The Daily Caller, a conservative news and opinion site; Ryan Balch, one of a number of armed men, including Mr. Rittenhouse, who came to Kenosha after protests over a police shooting turned destructive; and Detective Martin Howard of the Kenosha Police Department. Here are four key points from the fourth day of the trial of Mr. Rittenhouse, who is charged with six counts, including first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide. Mr. Rittenhouse’s lawyers have said he was acting in self-defense. Judge Bruce Schroeder of Kenosha County Circuit Court began the day by resolving an issue that was raised the day before: A juror in the trial made a joke about Jacob Blake to a sheriff’s deputy as the juror was being escorted to his vehicle this week. Thomas Binger, the prosecutor, asked the judge to dismiss the juror from the trial, saying the remark suggested that the juror, who is white, had a racial bias. The demonstrations in Kenosha began after Mr. Blake, who is Black, was shot by Rusten Sheskey, a white police officer who was trying to arrest him. The joke, Mr. Binger explained to the judge, went something like this: “Why did the Kenosha police shoot Jacob Blake seven times? Because they ran out of bullets.” Judge Schroeder brought the juror, an older man, into the courtroom and asked if he had made the comments. The juror acknowledged that he had, but declined the judge’s request to repeat the remarks in open court. The juror said that in his view, his comments were unrelated to the Rittenhouse trial.
