Kyle Rittenhouse will appear on Fox News' 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' as part of a documentary Monday
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After he was acquitted on all charges in the Kenosha shootings, Kyle Rittenhouse will take his story to Fox News and Tucker Carlson.
While America was watching the high-profile trial inside the courtroom over the last three weeks, behind the scenes, there's been a film crew from Fox News documenting Rittenhouse and his defense team.
The 18-year-old and his representatives gave Carlson and his team access for a documentary. However, Rittenhouse's lead defense attorney, Mark Richards, said he did not approve of the documentary and called it "a definite distraction."
A portion of an interview will air on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" on Fox News at 7 p.m. Monday.
The rest will air as part of a documentary on "Tucker Carlson Originals" on Fox Nation (the network's digital streaming service) in December.
Rittenhouse, who took the stand during the trial, maintained throughout he acted in self-defense, a claim the jury agreed with him on, when he shot three men during violent protests that stemmed from a Kenosha police officer shooting Jacob Blake two days earlier.
Rittenhouse, 18, faced five charges, including first-degree reckless homicide for killing Joseph Rosenbaum, 36; first-degree intentional homicide for killing Anthony Huber, 26; and attempted first-degree intentional homicide in the shooting of Gaige Grosskreutz, 28.
In the courtroom Friday, Rittenhouse broke down and collapsed in his chair after the acquittal verdict. He did not speak to any reporters afterward.
Richards told the media his client was on his way home "to get on with his life."
In a clip posted on Carlson's Twitter account Friday night previewing the documentary, Rittenhouse smiled in the courthouse and then hugged Richards following the not guilty verdict.
"The jury reached the correct verdict," Rittenhouse said while in a vehicle. "Self-defense is not illegal. ... I'm glad everything went well. It's been a rough journey, but we made it through it. We made it through the hard part."
Rittenhouse also says in a teaser for the documentary he has dreams about the night he shot three men on Aug. 25, 2020, "every single night" and the different scenarios "that could have happened."
"Once you finally get to bed your dreams are about what happened and you're waking up in a dark, cold sweat," Rittenhouse said in a dramatized sequence of clips that shows him sitting by a fire and scenes of Kenosha, including select ones of the unrest. "It's quite scary actually because the dreams feel so real and they're not the same at all."
Rittenhouse's attorney didn't approve of Fox News' film crew
In an appearance on "Cuomo Prime Time" with Chris Cuomo on CNN Friday night, Richards said he was not fond of having a TV film crew around while his client was facing a life sentence. He said "he threw them out" several times.
"I don't think a film crew is appropriate," Richards said. "I didn't approve, but I'm not always the boss."
Richards said Rittenhouse's family and his adviser made the decision on who got access.
The defense team was all crowdfunded by donations. The money helped pay for mock trials, which Richards acknowledged was key to the defense.
Opinion: Kyle Rittenhouse a hero? No, he was a callow, foolish boy who had no business being in Kenosha
Asked if he was worried about political agendas coming into play as a film crew followed him around with Rittenhouse already a conservative cause célèbre, Richards said "Kyle's going to have some hard choices in his life and the direction he goes and what he stands for. Those will have to be made by Kyle. As Cory (Chirafisi, Richards' co-counsel) and I told him he needs to learn how to take responsibility and tell people no."
Richards said after the trial he wasn't representing a cause but a client. In Friday's CNN interview, Richards said his main concerns were about Rittenhouse's earlier representatives, L. Lin Wood and John Pierce, who led the effort in raising $2 million for Rittenhouse's bail, and for allowing Rittenhouse to talk to the Washington Post after the shootings. Rittenhouse fired Pierce in early 2021 and Wood withdrew from the case late last year.
Rittenhouse-Carlson's relationship goes back a year
The relationship between the Rittenhouse team and Carlson's show goes back a year shortly after the teenager was charged.
Pierce went on "Tucker Carlson Tonight" to show a video created by a foundation that Wood was the chairman of the board and CEO. The video was the defense's effort to showcase their side on conservative media.
Moreover, a drone video that ended up being evidence in the trial was actually shown on Carlson's cable news show last year by Pierce.
Assistant District Attorney James Kraus said both sides had been trying unsuccessfully for months to obtain original drone video from the owner of the company that shot the footage. A former employee dropped it off with a detective Nov. 5.
The state used it as evidence, hoping to show that Rittenhouse was the aggressor and provoked Rosenbaum by raising his AR-15-style rifle at a couple who had been with Rosenbaum much of the night. Rosenbaum was later shot four times and killed by Rittenhouse.
The defense had concerns about the drone video, leading to one of the mistrial motions. But Judge Bruce Schroeder allowed the jury to view the video.
Contact Christopher Kuhagen at (262) 446-6634 or christopher.kuhagen@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ckuhagen and our newsroom Instagram accounts at MyCommunityNow and Lake Country Now.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Kyle Rittenhouse to go on 'Tucker Carlson Tonight' on Fox News Monday
