WATCH: Kenosha police chief says officers didn’t see protest shooter as threat

KENOSHA, Wis. — Kenosha police Chief Dan Miskinis on Friday defended police after they allowed teen gunman Kyle Rittenhouse to leave the scene even though he was holding a rifle and had his hands up in what many interpret as a gesture of surrender.

Kenosha police officials spoke at 2 p.m. ET today. Watch their remarks in the player above.

What the officers were driving into in this case, said Mikinis, “was a shots fired complaint, not a shooting, not a person down complaint.”

Mikinis said officers clearly didn’t see Rittenhouse as a suspect or a threat of any kind.

“He’s allowed to leave, where he goes to Antioch and turns himself in, because we have no idea that he’s involved,” said Mikinis.

Rittenhouse is charged with shooting and killing two men during this week’s violent demonstrations in Kenosha and will remain in Lake County, Illinois, for another month after a judge on Friday allowed a delay in the court process that could send him to Wisconsin to face the allegations.