A gunshot was fired just seconds before Kyle Rittenhouse began firing his assault rifle in the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, according to a detective testing at Rittenhouse’s trial.

Rittenhouse, 18, of Antioch, Illinois, is facing six criminal counts, including two counts of reckless homicide, one count of attempted homicide in the first degree, as well as one count of possession of a deadly weapon by a person under the age of 18.

If convicted, Rittenhouse could be sentenced to life in prison.

Kenosha Detective Martin Howard testified that a video shows a protester fired the first shot into the air and that within a few seconds Rittenhouse began firing his rifle.

Rittenhouse had traveled across state lines from Illinois to Wisconsin in August 2020 in the wake of the Kenosha police shooting of Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man.

Rittenhouse’s attorney Mark Richards has argued that Rittenhouse was defending himself from Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, one of the two men who was killed. Richards had shown the jury a clip of Rosenbaum taunting armed men.

Prosecutors have argued that Rittenhouse traveled to a politically charged city with a military-style semiautomatic rifle that he illegally obtained to confront Rosenbaum and others. Prosecutors showed a video taken from an FBI airplane of Rittenhouse chasing Rosenbaum.

An aerial video was shown in the courthouse that showed Rittenhouse on the sidewalk with Rosenbaum hiding behind a cluster of cars attempting to set a Duramax on fire. Other videos on the ground show that Rittenhouse had shouted “Friendly! Friendly! Friendly!” as Rosenbaum had chased Rittenhouse. Rosenbaum threw a bag at Rittenhouse, resulting in Rittenhouse firing his rifle four times.

Rittenhouse would fire four more shots. He shot and killed Anthony Huber, 26, who was trying to disarm Rittenhouse with his skateboard. Rittenhouse shot Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, who approached with his hands raised in an “I surrender” motion while holding a pistol in one hand.

Prosecutors replayed a video on the conservative website The Daily Caller that showed Rittenhouse said he and other men were in Kenosha “to protect this business, and part of my job is there’s somebody hurt, I’m running into harm’s way. That's why I have my rifle because I need to protect myself obviously. I also have my med kit."

Prosecutor Thomas Binger has referenced how Rosenbaum was unarmed at the time he was killed.

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