The defense in Kyle Rittenhouse’s murder trial rested its case on Thursday after calling three final witnesses: John Black, an expert on the legal use of force; Brittni Bray, a Kenosha police officer; and Frank Hernandez, a journalist who filmed the events in Kenosha on the night of August 25, 2020, which is when Rittenhouse killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber. 

Prosecutor Thomas Binger has characterized the killings as intentional homicides, while Rittenhouse’s lawyers have argued that the eighteen-year-old man acted in self-defense. Also, Rittenhouse has been charged with the attempted homicide of a third man, Gaige Grosskreutz, after shooting him in the arm; reckless endangerment of two other men who were close to being hit; and owning a firearm while underage, as Rittenhouse was seventeen at the time of the shootings. 

The Rittenhouse case has sharply divided people in the United States. While many on the political Right have defended Rittenhouse as a hero or claimed that his actions were justified, others have portrayed him as a teenage vigilante intentionally traveling to a protest to create conflict. A key point in the trial has been Rittenhouse’s links to Kenosha. The prosecution has portrayed him as an outsider while the defense claims that he viewed himself as a member of the community—even though his official residence is in Illinois. 

Additionally, the trial has drawn attention to the actions of Judge Bruce Schroeder who harshly criticized Binger for pursuing a line of questioning that he had earlier indicated was inadmissible. Schroeder’s neutrality in the trial has been the subject of debate, with some on the political left arguing that he had shown a bias toward the defense. 

Closing arguments in the trial are scheduled to begin on Monday. On Thursday evening, Schroeder instructed the two sides to limit their closing statements to two and a half hours in length, indicating that after they were complete, the jury would receive at least an additional hour’s worth of instructions from the judge before it could begin deliberations. These deliberations will continue as long as necessary for a unanimous decision to be reached; once it is, the verdict will be announced.  

Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has called up five hundred members of the state’s National Guard to help Kenosha police prepare for unrest following the verdict. 

Trevor Filseth is a current and foreign affairs writer for the National Interest. 

Image: Reuters