Kyle Rittenhouse faces a wrongful death lawsuit from the father of one of the men he shot dead during the Kenosha riots, a judge has ruled.
The case was brought by John Huber, father of rioter Anthony Huber, who was fatally shot by Rittenhouse during the 2020 BLM protests in Wisconsin.
A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed motions by Rittenhouse’s attorneys to dismiss the lawsuit, which also names law enforcement officers and officials as defendants.
The lawsuit, originally filed in 2021, alleges that Rittenhouse conspired with police to attack protesters who took to the streets following the August 2020 shooting of Jacob Blake. He was found not guilty of murder in court.
John Huber’s lawsuit also alleges that officials violated his son’s constitutional rights by allowing the riots to escalate into violence, which resulted in his death.
Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty to all charges when he went to trial following the 2020 shooting
Anthony Huber was killed by Rittenhouse in 2020 during BLM riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse was acquitted at trial
After a murder trial that drew international attention, Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges related to his actions during the 2020 shooting.
He was charged with first-degree first-degree murder, along with several other charges, for killing Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz.
The jury deliberated for four days before returning a not-guilty verdict on all five charges he faced.
Lawyers for the 18-year-old successfully persuaded the jury that their client had acted in self-defense during a protest against police brutality.
After the acquittal, President Biden came under fire after saying he was “angry and worried” about the outcome.
The Rittenhouse murder trial gained international attention in the wake of the 2020 BLM riots
As the verdict was read at his trial, 18-year-old Rittenhouse began shaking as he fought back tears. But in the end he couldn’t hold her any longer and he collapsed in his chair and then hugged defender Corey Chirafisi
The wrongful death lawsuit was brought against Rittenhouse by John Huber, the father of one of the men whom Rittenhouse shot
The wrongful death lawsuit against Rittenhouse also alleges that Rittenhouse, along with other armed counter-protesters, “was subject to different rules and was allowed to roam freely in areas controlled by law enforcement.”
Although he was a minor not authorized to carry a firearm, the complaint alleges he was never questioned by law enforcement.
The lawsuit further alleges that authorities “forced protesters into a cordoned-off area with hostile armed individuals” and failed to “protect protesters from the violence of the armed individuals.”
Rittenhouse’s legal team had filed motions to dismiss the wrongful-death lawsuit, which was denied by US District Judge Lynn Adelman on Wednesday.
Anthony Huber’s death “could plausibly be viewed as being directly caused by the actions of the government defendants,” Adelman said.
However, Rittenhouse’s attorney argued that the approval of Huber’s lawsuit lacked corroboration of the merits of the case.
“While we respect the judge’s decision, we do not believe there is evidence of conspiracy and we are confident that Kyle’s actions that night, as determined by a Kenosha jury, were not wrongful and were taken in self-defense ‘ said the lawyer.
With the lawsuit now proceeding, Anand Swaminathan, a lawyer for Huber’s parents, said the family is “one step closer to justice for their son’s needless death.”
“Kenosha officials, who have created a powder keg situation by their actions, have attempted to claim that they cannot be held accountable for their unconstitutional conduct; That argument was resolutely rejected today.’
During the contentious 2021 trial, Rittenhouse’s attorneys argued before a judge that Anthony Huber had a violent criminal past that spanned a range of offenses.
They claimed Huber had previously attacked family members and threatened to “gut his brother like a pig.”
The shocking revelations also claim Huber threatened to burn down the family home “with everything you got in it.”
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi argued that the evidence would only be brought before the jury if the state attempted to promote the notion that Huber was “a hero.”
She told the judge: “Huber told his brother he was going to kill him. Huber stuck a knife in his brother’s stomach and said he would gut him like a pig.
“Huber grabbed his brother’s neck, dug in his nails and choked him for about ten seconds. He held a knife to his brother’s left ear and his brother felt it cut.
‘He said, ‘I’m going to burn down the house with all your assholes in it.’
On another occasion, he kicked his sister in the right hip, causing her to collapse.
Chirafisi said: “They say this is a peaceful man. If you say that’s peaceful, it is [material] we will want to admit.’
With these allegations coming to light, the state backed down from attempting to paint Huber as a “hero,” and the jury did not learn details of Huber’s violent criminal past.
Rittenhouse is facing a second lawsuit, having previously been found not guilty during his 2021 trial
Rittenhouse shot and killed two men during a protest against police brutality in Kenosha, Wisconsin
The then 17-year-old fatally shot two protesters and injured a third as a BLM riot erupted in violence in Kenosha
The shooting that put Kyle Rittenhouse in the national spotlight broke out on August 25, 2020.
The then 17-year-old traveled to Kenosha as the town descended into a third night of violence following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
The teenager, who was armed with a semi-automatic rifle, shot dead two protesters and wounded a third while patrolling the area with several others who were also armed.
Footage of the shooting released on social media appeared to show Rittenhouse sitting on the ground and opening fire before several protesters attempted to disarm him.
After being confronted by rioters, Rittenhouse was seen being kicked by one person while another tried to grab his gun.
As the teenager stumbled backwards, a witness, Julio Rosas, 24, said: “Two people jumped on him and there was a struggle for control of his rifle.
“At that point during the fight, he just started firing multiple shots and it scattered people around him.
“The rifle was thrown in all directions when fired.”
Anthony Huber was later identified as one of the men who confronted Rittenhouse on the night of the violence, with the 17-year-old’s lawyer successfully arguing in court that the teenager acted in self-defense.