Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who allegedly shot and killed two people during the Kenosha protests, will not be charged in Illinois in connection to the rifle he used during the shooting.
According to the Chicago Sun Times, the Lake County state’s attorney’s office says they will not file gun charges against Rittenhouse because his gun was originally purchased in Wisconsin. They also said that his rifle was stored and used in Wisconsin — which does not violate Illinois law. There is also no evidence that proves that he was in possession of the gun in the state of Illinois.
Rittenhouse is currently charged with six criminal counts, including first-degree intentional homicide, for the shootings on Aug. 25 that left two protesters dead and injured a third. Protests erupted in Kenosha after a local white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black man, in the back multiple times.
Video footage from the night of the deadly shootings, showed an armed Rittenhouse running away saying, “I just shot someone,” after one protester was fatally gunned down.
He is currently being held without bond at a juvenile detention center in Illinois. His next court appearance is scheduled later this month for an extradition hearing. Rittenhouse’s attorney says his client shouldn’t be extradited back to Wisconsin because “this is not a legitimate criminal prosecution, it is a political prosecution.”
The teen and his legal team recently revealed that they are planning to file a lawsuit against Joe Biden after Rittenhouse’s image was briefly featured in his presidential campaign ad against white supremacy.
Lin Wood, one of the attorneys for Rittenhouse, called for a “public retraction” of the video. “I…hereby demand that @JoeBiden immediately retract his false accusation that Kyle is a white supremacist & militia member responsible for violence in Kenosha,” Wood tweeted. “He falsely accused a 17-year-old boy & prejudiced Kyle’s legal rights.”