OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
The defense team for Kyle Rittenhouse has rested its case and his mom is furious with President Joe Biden for the way, she said, he has portrayed her son.
Last year, during the presidential election campaign, Biden attacked Donald Trump for not disavowing “white supremacists” as he tweeted a video featuring a photo of the teenage Rittenhouse.
“There’s no other way to put it: the President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage last night,” he said.
There’s no other way to put it: the President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage last night. pic.twitter.com/Q3VZTW1vUV
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 30, 2020
“When I saw that I was shocked, I was angry. President Biden don’t [sic] know my son whatsoever, and he’s not a White supremacist. He’s not a racist. And [Biden] did that for the votes. And I was so angry for a while at him and what he did to my son, he defamed him,” Wendy Rittenhouse said in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday, Fox News reported.
Rittenhouse was charged with two counts of homicide for shooting Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, with an AR-15. The third person Rittenhouse shot, Gaige Grosskreutz, survived and testified Monday.
Rittenhouse was also charged with possessing a weapon by a person under 18, and multiple counts of reckless endangerment.
At trial, the prosecution tried to convey that the defendant went to the riots and had a gun with him because he intended to use it. The defendant pleaded not guilty to all charges and testified that he fired his weapon, all eight times, in self-defense.
“I see this man trying to kick my son in the face …. When I look at the video with that guy pointing a gun to my son’s head, I thought: he was going to die,” she said of the video of the shooting.
She said that her son “has a lot of healing to do” and experiences “nightmares.”
But she did have nice things to say about the judge in the case.
“The judge is very fair. The people that I talked to that lived in Kenosha all their lives. They told me that Judge Schroeder is a very fair judge and he doesn’t allow no nonsense [sic] in his courtroom,” she said.
The judge has been hammering the prosecution this week.
Sparks flew during the eighth day of Kyle Rittenhouse’s trial in Kenosha, Wis., after Judge Bruce Schroeder yelled at one of the prosecutors.
According to reports, the heated exchange between Schroeder and Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger came following his cross-examination of the teen who had earlier broken down on the stand, leading Schroeder to call for recess.
“The first rift between Binger and Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder broke out after the district attorney pressed Rittenhouse if he was telling his account of August 25, 2020—when he fatally shot two men and wounded a third—for the first time,” Newsweek reported.
After he instructed the jury to go to the library, the judge ripped Binger, saying that he had committed a “grave constitutional violation” after discussing Rittenhouse’s right to remain silent.
“You’re right on the borderline. You may be over. But it better stop,” the judge warned.
The judge ordered the jury to leave his chambers for a second time during cross-examination after the prosecutor asked the teen about an Aug. 10 incident that had been excluded under a pre-trial order.
“Why would you think that made it okay for you to bring this matter before the jury?” Schroeder hollered at Binger.
“I was astonished when you began his examination by commenting on the defendant’s post-arrest silence. That’s basic law. It’s been basic law in this country for 40 years, 50 years. I have no idea why you would do something like that,” he added. “I don’t know what you’re up to.”
Binger replied that he was attempting to impeach Rittenhouse during his line of questioning, but that didn’t go over at all with Schroeder.
“Don’t get brazen with me!” Schroeder yelled at Binger. “You know very well that an attorney can’t go into these types of areas when the judge has already ruled, without asking outside the presence of the jury to do so. So don’t give me that!”
The judge went on to say that he did not want to have another issue with the prosecutor.
“Is that clear?” he asked.
“Yes,” Binger replied.
