The girlfriend of one of the two men shot dead by Kyle Rittenhouse has “a lot of sympathy” for the teenager, saying he was just a “dumba** kid” who had become a figurehead for the pro-militia movement.
Hannah Gittings, 25, spoke to the New York Post as Mr Rittenhouse is on trial for homicide charges. Mr Rittenhouse shot and killed her partner Anthony Huber in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year. Mr Rittenhouse has said he was acting in self defence.
“I do have a lot of sympathy for this kid because he is just a kid to me so it was just like a really dumba** kid who unfortunately became the figurehead for this,” Ms Gittings told The Post.
Mr Rittenhouse is on trial for the first-degree homicide of Mr Huber, 26, and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and wounding a third man Gaige Grosskreutz, 27.
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Ms Gittings added that the city also bore some blame for Mr Huber’s death, as it had failed to protect residents from the armed men who came to town claiming they wanted to prevent damage to buildings.
“Kenosha also needs to be held responsible for allowing this militia to show up and do exactly what they came here to do.”
Mr Huber was friends with Jacob Blake, whose shooting by police officers triggered a wave of rioting and protests in the city last year.
Mr Rittenhouse has said he travelled to Kenosha to help law enforcement quell the riots and protect business that were being burned.
Armed with an AR-15-style rifle, Mr Rittenhouse shot Mr Rosenbaum after he tried to rush the teenager, and killed Mr Huber as he tried to strike him with his skateboard.
Mr Rittenhouse has claimed he was acting in self-defence.
Ms Gittings said her boyfriend had gone to the streets to capture footage of the civil unrest.
She told The Post that watching the trial had taken a toll on her, hearing Mr Huber had been unfairly characterised by Mr Rittenhouse’s defense team as a “rioter” and a “looter”.
She said there was a vast difference in character between her partner and Mr Rittenhouse,
“One of them goes out, taking advantage of a vulnerable situation so that he can live out his fantasy of being king of the world and one of them out there doing absolutely nothing, nothing f***ing wrong and being presented with yes, an active shooter situation and leaping into action without a second thought of his own safety,” Ms Gittings told The Post.
