Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder opened jury selection with some attempted comic relief, including a round of trivia.
The judge presiding over Kyle Rittenhouse’s homicide trial opened jury selection with some attempted comic relief, including a round of trivia and excusing a cough attack with promises that he doesn’t have COVID, the Associated Press reported. Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder drew laughs on social media Monday, opening with a round of Jeopardy! -type trivia to get to know the potential jury members more. He also suffered a coughing fit, then reassured potential jurors that he had been vaccinated three times against COVID-19. Schroeder apologized for being disorganized, saying jury selection usually does not occur on Monday mornings. Rittenhouse,18, of Antioch, Illinois, allegedly shot three people during a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August of 2020. He said he traveled to Kenosha to protect businesses from looting during the protests. Two of the men he allegedly shot, Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, died. A third man, Gaige Grosskreutz, allegedly was shot by Rittenhouse. Protests against police brutality began after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, who is Black, in the back during a domestic disturbance. Blake had been fighting with officers and was armed with a knife. Schroeder warned that the media played a big part in the case and could potentially mislead jurors. “This case has become very political. It was involved in the politics of the last election year…. You could go out now and read things from all across the political spectrum about this case, most of which is written by people who know nothing,” he said.
