President Trump appears to defend actions of teen accused of killing two protesters in Kenosha
Reaction from Byron Donalds, Republican congressional candidate in Florida, and Fox News contributor Judy Miller, adjunct fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research.
"PBS Newshour" White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor is under fire for claiming that Kyle Rittenhouse shot “unarmed” protesters in Kenosha, Wis. last week, with viewers quick to point out at least one demonstrator had a gun.
Rittenhouse is facing first-degree murder charges in connection with the Aug. 25 shooting that killed two men and wounded a third. On Tuesday, MSNBC "Deadline: White House" host Nicolle Wallace asked Alcindor about President Trump appearing to defend Rittenhouse’s actions during a Monday White House press briefing.
SUSPECT KYLE RITTENHOUSE THANKS SUPPORTERS VIA PHONE IN LAWYER’S TWITTER POST
“What you see the president doing," Alcindor responded, "is just doubling down and really going to this part of his base -- I don’t think all Trump supporters are like this -- but going to the part of his base that think that it’s okay for a 17-year-old to shoot people in the street who are unarmed, who are at a protest, who are upset about the way that the federal government is treating African-Americans."
“Rittenhouse was chased by a person with a handgun,” National Republican Senatorial Committee advisor Matt Whitlock responded. “There are pictures and video that both @Yamiche and @NicolleDWallace must have seen by now.”
ATTORNEY FOR KENOSHA GUNMAN KYLE RITTENHOUSE SAYS CLIENT WAS HUNTED 'AS PREY' BEFORE DEADLY SHOOTING
Others quickly pointed out the misinformation:
Rittenhouse’s attorney, John Pierce, insists his 17-year-old client acted in self-defense.
“He was in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death," Pierce told Tucker Carlson on Monday. "This is 100% self-defense ... Kyle is a good kid."
According to Pierce, Rittenhouse traveled to Kenosha from his home in Antioch, Ill. to help a friend who owns a business in the Wisconsin city and feared for his property after two nights of rioting that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Rittenhouse brought a First-Aid kit to render assistance if needed. At one point, Pierce said, Rittenhouse found himself isolated from the business when riot police shifted positions while Rittenhouse tried to extinguish fires set by the rioters.
"There was a shot that was fired as Kyle was retreating, actually, from a mob that had become enraged that he was trying to put out the fires that the arsonists had set because he was trying to protect property," Pierce recounted. "The mob became enraged.
"They began screaming that Kyle needed to be killed and they were going to kill him. They started relentlessly hunting him as prey as he ran down the street attempting to retreat," Pierce went on. "As he ran out of room to retreat, shots were fired from behind him."
At one point, Rittenhouse tripped and a protester immediately appeared above him, while a second tried to disarm him.
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Pierce said one of the men involved in the struggle, identified by local media as a BLM volunteer medic named Gaige Grosskreutz, was holding a firearm when he was shot in the arm by Rittenhouse.
"He fired and disarmed the individual, hitting him in the arm," Pierce said. "He shot and killed the other person who was attacking him. And I got to tell you, if you really think about this, Tucker, in this war zone, in this chaos that is occurring in this city in America in the middle of Wisconsin, Kyle -- the only individuals that Kyle shot were the three individuals that were attacking him and putting him at risk of serious bodily harm or death.
Fox News’ Charles Creitz contributed to this report.