MADISON, Delete. (AP) – A judge will hold a hearing next week on whether to arrest an 18-year-old from Illinois or increase bail accused of opening fire at a protest against police brutality in Wisconsin after coming to reportedly his address at the court.
Judge Bruce Schroeder scheduled the hearing on Friday afternoon for Kyle Rittenhouse, who is accused of shooting Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz, who killed Rosenbaum and Huber and wounded Grosskreutz during protests in Kenosha in August.
The demonstrations began after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a black man, in the back. Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, claims the protesters attacked him and that he fired in self-defense.
Prosecutors allege Rittenhouse left the Antioch, Illinois apartment he shared with his mother after posting a $ 2 million cash bond in November and the court has not given his new address. They filed a motion this week Schroeder to issue an arrest warrant for Rittenhouse and raise his bond by $ 200,000.
Rittenhouse’s lawyers have replied that Rittenhouse has received threats and moved to a “secret safe house” after he got out of prison. They said in court documents that they offered to disclose the address if prosecutors kept it secret, but Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger declined, saying the address is public.
They added an address to the filings and a request for Schroeder to keep it sealed, but Binger replied that it is just a PO Box and does not meet Rittenhouse’s bail conditions.
Rittenhouse, who is white, traveled to Kenosha on Aug. 25 after a social media paramilitary group called on people to protect companies amid turmoil. He is facing multiple charges, including murder and being a minor in possession of a firearm.
Supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement have portrayed Rittenhouse as a trigger-happy white supremacist. Conservatives who were concerned about property destruction during a number of protests against police brutality last summer have portrayed him as a patriot who exercises his right to bear arms and raised the $ 2 million it takes for Rittenhouse to get out of prison .
Rittenhouse on Monday fired John Pierce, the outspoken Los Angeles attorney who led the fundraiser.
Pierce removed himself from the criminal case in December after prosecutors claimed he had his own “significant financial problems” and was not allowed to raise money for Rittenhouse. He stayed on as Rittenhouse’s attorney in civil matters, leaving the criminal case to attorney Mark Richards.
Pierce confirmed that he and Rittenhouse had split up by tweeting that he fought for Rittenhouse with “every fiber” of his being.
Rittenhouse supporters tweeted on their FreeKyleUSA account on Thursday that Rittenhouse fired Pierce on Monday and that he hired another Los Angeles attorney, Robert Barnes.
Pierce tweeted that he fought for Rittenhouse with “every fiber” of his being. Barnes tweeted that he was “thrilled to join the #KyleRittenhouse team.”
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I followed Todd Richmond on Twitter at https://twitter.com/trichmond1