Wisconsin prosecutors add curfew charge against Rittenhouse

Associated Press
Updated ·1 min read
This Oct. 30, 2020 photo provided by the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department shows Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wis. Rittenhouse is accused of killing two protesters days after Jacob Blake was shot by police in Kenosha, Wis. earlier this year. (Kenosha County Sheriff's Department via AP)

MILWAUKEE (AP) — Prosecutors have charged a 17-year-old Illinois teen accused of shooting three people during a protest in southeastern Wisconsin this summer with violating curfew that night.

Kyle Rittenhouse was charged in August with multiple counts, including reckless and intentional homicide, endangerment and being a minor in possession of a firearm. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that prosecutors added violating curfew the night of the shootings to the list of charges on Monday. The offense is a civil citation punishable by forfeiture.

Prosecutors allege Rittenhouse, who is white, left his home in Antioch, Illinois, and traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, after learning of a call for militia to protect businesses in that city on Aug. 25. Kenosha was in the throes of several nights of chaotic street demonstrations after a white officer shot Jacob Blake, who is Black, in the back during domestic disturbance, leaving Blake paralyzed.

Rittenhouse opened fire with an assault-style rifle during the protest that night, killing Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz. Rittenhouse has argued he fired in self-defense. Conservatives have rallied around him, generating enough money to make his $2 million cash bail.

The Journal Sentinel reported that police arrested about 150 people for curfew violations during the protests.