Kyle Rittenhouse used coronavirus stimulus check to buy AR-15 used in deadly shooting: report
Rittenhouse said he also used his first unemployment check for the purchase
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kenosha killer Kyle Rittenhouse used his government stimulus check to buy the AR-15 he allegedly used to fatally shoot two men this summer, according to a new report.
At 17, Rittenhouse was too young to purchase the assault rifle under Wisconsin law, so he gave his pal Dominick Black, then 18, the money to buy one in the spring, the accused gunman told the Washington Post.
“I got my $1,200 from the coronavirus Illinois unemployment ’cause I was on furlough from YMCA and I got my first unemployment check so I was like, ‘Oh, I’ll use this to buy it,'” Rittenhouse told the Washington Post from a juvenile detention center, where he’s been held on $2 million cash bail since the August shootings.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Kyle Rittenhouse sits while listening during an extradition hearing in Lake County court Friday, Oct. 30, 2020, in Waukegan, Ill. Rittenhouse is accused of killing two protesters days after Jacob Blake was shot by police in Kenosha, Wis. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, Pool)
KYLE RITTENHOUSE'S CASH BAIL IS SET AT $2 MILLION
Black is now charged with two felony counts of intentionally giving a dangerous weapon to a minor resulting in death after Rittenhouse allegedly gunned down Anthony Huber and Joseph Rittenhouse during riots in Kenosha on Aug. 25.
Black, of Kenosha, told investigators he bought Rittenhouse the Smith & Wesson M&P rifle because his pal was too young to do so himself.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The pair had agreed to transfer ownership of the rifle to Rittenhouse in a year, the Washington Post said.
In the jailhouse interview, Rittenhouse reiterated that he acted in self-defense during the riots that kicked off following the police shooting of Jacob Blake two days earlier.
“I was going to a place were people had guns and god forbid somebody brought a gun to me and decided to shoot me,” the teen said. “I wanted to be protected which I ended up having to protect myself.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Dominick David Black, 19, faces criminal charges in connection with allegedly purchasing the rifle used by Kyle Rittenhouse during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department)
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Rittenhouse is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, which could land him in prison for life, if convicted.
This article first appeared in the New York Post.