KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) — Kyle Rittenhouse has been acquitted of all charges after pleading self-defense in the deadly Kenosha, Wisconsin, shootings that became a flashpoint in the nation's debate over guns, vigilantism and racial injustice.
PBS NewsHour's Nicole Ellis hosted a live analysis of the case and its implications with Insha Rahman, vice president at the Vera Institute of Justice, Ja'Han Jones, a writer for MSNBC's The ReidOut, and Troy McDonald, host of the "Inside the Rittenhouse Trial" Podcast.
Watch the analysis in the player above.
The jury came back with its verdict after close to three and a half days of deliberation.
Rittenhouse, 18, could have gotten life in prison if found guilty of the most serious charge against him.
He was charged with homicide, attempted homicide and recklessly endangering safety for killing two men and wounding a third with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle.
The shootings took place during a night of protests over police violence against Black people in the tumultuous summer of 2020. Rittenhouse is white, as were those he shot. The jury appeared to be overwhelmingly white.
Jurors listened to two weeks of dueling portrayals of Rittenhouse. Prosecutors say he was a "wannabe soldier" who brought a semi-automatic rifle to a racial justice protest and instigated the bloodshed. The defense says he acted in self-defense.
Rittenhouse was a 17-year-old former police youth cadet when he went to Kenosha in what he said was an effort to protect property after rioters set fires and ransacked businesses on previous nights.
He shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, now 28. Rittenhouse is white, as were those he shot.
The case has exposed deep divides among Americans over guns, racial injustice, vigilantism and self-defense in the U.S.
EXPLAINER: Could jury weigh lesser charges for Rittenhouse?
During closing arguments Nov. 15, prosecutor Thomas Binger argued that Rittenhouse set the deadly chain of events in motion by bringing a semi-automatic rifle to a protest and menacing others, then was able to walk off like a "hero in a Western."
But Rittenhouse lawyer Mark Richards countered that Rittenhouse was ambushed by a "crazy person" he feared would wrest away his gun and use it to kill him.
Rittenhouse, then 17, had gone to Kenosha from his home in Antioch, Illinois, in what he said was an effort to protect property from rioters in the days after a Black man, Jacob Blake, was shot by a white Kenosha police officer.
Binger said Rittenhouse was "looking for trouble that night," and he repeatedly showed the jury drone video that he said depicted Rittenhouse pointing his weapon at demonstrators.
"This is the provocation. This is what starts this incident," the prosecutor declared. He added: "You lose the right to self-defense when you're the one who brought the gun, when you are the one creating the danger, when you're the one provoking other people."
Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, now 28.
In making his case for self-defense, Rittenhouse testified that Rosenbaum chased him down and made a grab for his rifle — testimony largely corroborated by video and some of the prosecution's own witnesses.
As for Huber, he was gunned down after he was seen on video hitting Rittenhouse with a skateboard. And Grosskreutz admitted he had his own gun pointed at Rittenhouse when he was shot.
In his instructions to the jury, Schroeder said that to accept Rittenhouse's claim of self-defense, the jurors must find that he believed there was an unlawful threat to him and that the amount of force he used was reasonable and necessary.
Watch more clips from the conversation below: