Judge dismisses charge against Rittenhouse for possessing rifle
In dismissing the charge, Judge Bruce Schroeder said the law on possession was unclear. Rittenhouse was 17 at the time of the shootings.
While a misdemeanor charge, its dismissal carries symbolic significance for a case that has captured the attention of the public in part because it involves a teenager roaming the streets with a semi-automatic rifle who was not immediately brought into custody by the Kenosha police.
The defense had argued that under a strict reading of Wisconsin law a person could carry a rifle at age 16 or 17 as long as it was not considered short-barreled, among other exceptions.
After prosecutors conceded that the barrel of Rittenhouse's AR-15-style rifle was of a length that would not categorize it as short-barreled, the judge dismissed the weapons possession charge, the only misdemeanor count against the teenager.
