Judge Refuses To Toss Weapons Charge Against Rittenhouse

(Antioch Police Department via AP)

MADISON, Wis. (AP) – A judge has declined to dismiss a weapons charge against an Illinois man accused of shooting three people during a protest against police brutality in Wisconsin last year.

Prosecutors charged Kyle Rittenhouse with homicide and other crimes, including being a minor in possession of a firearm, after he killed two men and wounded a third during the August 2020 protest in Kenosha.

Rittenhouse was 17 at the time and has said he acted in self-defense.

His attorneys on Tuesday asked Judge Bruce Schroeder to throw out the firearm charge, arguing that it only applies if the minor is carrying a short-barreled rifle.

Rittenhouse used an AR-style semiautomatic rifle. Schroeder refused to dismiss the charge but said he might reconsider.