凯尔·里顿豪斯周三，他走上证人席，为自己辩护，当他开始描述枪杀三名男子时，他哽咽了，其中两人伤势严重，他声称这是一种自卫行为。

在情绪高涨、利害攸关的一天里，辩方威胁要要求无效审判，法官对该州首席律师的低级滑稽行为进行了严厉指控，当检察官声称自己是出于善意时，他一度嘲笑道:“我不相信你”。

里顿豪斯告诉法官布鲁斯·施罗德，他是在咨询律师后决定这样做的，随后他开始在基诺沙县法庭作证。

在长达一小时的证词中，这位18岁的少年讲述了他作为一名训练有素的救生员、一名消防队急救学员和一名在亚利桑那州立大学学习护理的学生的背景。

“你是来基诺沙市中心找麻烦的吗?”他的律师马克·理查兹问道。

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凯尔·里顿豪斯在柯的审判中，在证人席上变得情绪激动

里顿豪斯穿着蓝色西装，打着相配的领带，回答说:“没有。”

里顿豪斯说，2020年8月25日，他和他的姐姐和朋友一起去了基诺沙，此前他在网上看到有人呼吁人们来这座城市帮助保护它，此前警方枪杀了29岁瘫痪的黑人男子雅各布·布莱克，引发了抢劫和破坏行为。

“我去那里提供急救，”里顿豪斯作证说，并补充说，他带来了他的医疗用品以及他的AR-15式半自动步枪。

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凯尔·里顿豪斯在基诺沙县法院出庭作证..

里顿豪斯对一级鲁莽杀人、一级故意杀人和一级故意杀人未遂的重罪指控不认罪。他声称自己开枪打死了36岁的约瑟夫·罗森鲍姆和26岁的安东尼·胡伯，并出于自卫打伤了27岁的盖格·格罗斯克罗伊茨。

“我没打算杀他们。我打算阻止那些攻击我的人，”里顿豪斯在作证时反复说道。

我听到有人大喊，“去死吧”

理查兹将里顿豪斯引向了2020年8月25日的枪击事件。他作证说，他目睹一名警察被砖头击中，另一名男子下巴被打破，据称他受到罗森鲍姆的口头威胁。

他说，他和看守三个被破坏停车场的朋友走散了。他说，当他再次遇到罗森鲍姆和一名被检察官认定为约书亚·齐敏斯基的男子时，他正急于扑灭其中一个停车场的火。

“我听到有人尖叫‘去死吧’，当里顿豪斯到达被破坏的停车场时说道。“我回复‘友好，友好，友好’让他们知道，嘿，我只是来帮忙的。我不想有任何问题。我只是想灭火，如果有火的话。”

通过盖蒂图像标记赫茨伯格/普尔

凯尔·里顿豪斯的母亲温迪·里顿豪斯在听儿子说话时变得情绪激动.

里顿豪斯作证说，当齐民斯基拿着灭火器走近停车场时，他拔出枪，对准了他。

“当我走向去灭火的时候，我扔下了灭火器，然后后退了一步(从齐民斯基那里)，”里顿豪斯说。"我的计划是摆脱那种局面。"

但他说，在他逃跑之前，罗森鲍姆据称正在向他施压，齐民斯基和其他三个人挡住了他的去路。

里顿豪斯突然抽泣起来

“一旦我退后一步，我回头看，罗森鲍姆先生现在正从我的右边跑过来，我和齐敏斯基先生从前面被逼得走投无路，”里顿豪斯说。

随后，里顿豪斯在证人席上开始抽泣，这促使施罗德要求休庭。

当里顿豪斯回到证人席时，他拿起证词，说他看到罗森鲍姆向他冲过来。

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凯尔·里顿豪斯在基诺沙县法院出庭作证..

”齐敏斯基先生向我走来。我去了南方，”里顿豪斯说。

我开枪打了他

他说，当罗森鲍姆开始追捕他时，他听到齐敏斯基据称告诉罗森鲍姆“抓住他并杀死他。”

“当我往西南方向跑的时候，罗森鲍姆先生抛出了...我知道它现在是一个包，”里顿豪斯说，并补充说，他最初认为这是一个沉重的链条罗森鲍姆被看到携带在晚上早些时候。

“我在继续跑的时候转过身来，用枪指着罗森鲍姆先生，”里顿豪斯说。

理查兹问道:“这能阻止他追你吗?”

里顿豪斯回答说:“它没有。”

他说，罗森鲍姆继续“加快速度”，然后他听到身后传来一声枪响。

里顿豪斯说罗森鲍姆向他扑来。

“我记得他的手放在我的枪管上，”里顿豪斯说。

理查兹问道:“当你看到他抢你的枪时，你会怎么做?”

里顿豪斯回答说:“我打中了他。”

我在为自己辩护

他说，当他向罗森鲍姆开了四枪时，停车场里的人迅速散开。他说，他试图去帮助罗森鲍姆，但当人们再次开始包围他们时，他听到有人尖叫，“拿他的a -，拿他的a -。抓住他，抓住他，抓住他。”

他说，他立即打电话给一个朋友多米尼克·布莱克，他当晚和他一起来到基诺沙市中心，并告诉他，他刚刚枪杀了一个人。

“我不得不开枪打他，”里顿豪斯对布莱克说。

他说，他开始朝着他认为警察已经就位的方向前进。

理查兹问道:“你为什么要去找警察?”

里顿豪斯回应说:“因为我没做错什么。我是在为自己辩护。”

拍摄胡贝尔和格罗斯克罗伊茨

里顿豪斯说，当他继续跑的时候，胡贝尔走到他身后，用滑板打了他的后脑勺。他还说一块混凝土石块击中了他的后脑勺。

“我头晕。我差点晕过去，我绊倒了，摔倒在地上，”里顿豪斯说。

他说，人们很快包围了他，他用枪指着他们，他们后退了，除了一个身份不明的人踢了他的脸。他说他朝那个人开了两枪，但没打中。

“我想如果我被击倒...如果我不开枪，他会把我的脸踩进去的，”里顿豪斯说。

他作证说，据称Huber在试图坐起来时跑向他，并用滑板击打他的脖子。

“他抓住我的枪，我能感觉到它从我身上拉开，我能感觉到带子开始从我身上脱落，”里顿豪斯说。“我开一枪。”

检察官说，罗森鲍姆胸部中弹，当场死亡。

他说他放下武器，然后看到格罗斯克罗伊茨举着手站在他面前。

通过盖蒂图像标记赫茨伯格/普尔

凯尔·里顿豪斯和他的律师马克·理查兹在法庭上作证时交谈..

“当我放下武器时，我向下看，然后格罗斯克罗伊茨先生，他用手枪直接指着我的头向我扑来，”里顿豪斯说，并补充说他们离得很近，脚都碰到了。

他说格罗斯克罗伊茨双手举在空中，看着他。

“这时格罗斯克罗伊茨先生放下了他的手臂。...他的手枪指着我，我就朝他开枪。”

Grosskreutz作证说，他的二头肌中枪，导致他后退并大声呼叫医生。

里顿豪斯投降

里顿豪斯说他爬了起来，然后跑向一排警车去自首。他说，他走近一辆警车的车窗，说:“我刚刚开枪打了一个人。我刚刚开枪打了人。”

他说，警官回应说让他回去，并威胁说要对他使用胡椒喷雾。

这名少年说，他随后回到他一直帮助看守的一个车源停车场，并与被锁在里面的一群盟友交谈。

“我很震惊。我吓坏了。我刚被袭击了。我的头在打转，”里顿豪斯说。

他说，他的朋友多米尼克·布莱克开车送他去了他在伊利诺伊州安提阿的家，在那里他告诉了他的母亲和两个姐妹他的遭遇。他说，他母亲开车送他到当地警察局，他在那里自首。

他说，当他到达警察局时，“我不得不告诉他们，我参与了基诺沙的一次枪击事件，我需要基诺沙的侦探。”

“我没打算杀他们”

检察官托马斯·宾格尔开始盘问里顿豪斯，问道:“那天晚上你射杀的所有人，你都打算杀死，对吗?”

里顿豪斯回答说:“我没打算杀他们。我打算阻止那些攻击我的人。”

“通过杀死他们?”宾格尔向里顿豪斯施压。

这名少年回应说:“我做了我必须做的事情来阻止攻击我的人。”

宾格尔问里顿豪斯，在整个审判过程中，他是如何坐着听30多名目击者的证词，以及观看拍摄枪击的多个视频的。

“在这一切之后，你告诉我们你的故事，对吗?”宾格尔问。

施罗德随后停止了提问，在将陪审团送出法庭后，理查兹反对宾格的提问，他告诉法官，“他在评论我的当事人保持沉默的权利。”

施罗德同意了，他告诉宾格，“你需要对此负责。”

宾格回应道:“不，法官大人，我的意思是，在听取了案件的所有情况后，现在他正在根据已经介绍的内容来调整他的故事。”

施罗德警告宾格尔说，谈论里顿豪斯迄今的沉默是“严重违反宪法的”。

施罗德说:“你就在边界线上，你可能已经越过了。“但最好停下来。这是不允许的。”

当宾格尔的反诘问恢复时，他开始问里顿豪斯关于他使用致命武力的问题。

“你会同意我的观点，不允许我们使用致命的武力来保护汽车之源大楼?”宾格尔问。

里顿豪斯回答说:“我没有使用致命的武力来保护财产。我在用致命的力量保护自己。”

法官严厉的指责

宾格随后向里顿豪斯询问了枪击发生前10天的一个事件。

“但你之前已经表示，你希望你有你的AR-15来保护别人的财产?”宾格尔问。

理查兹立即表示反对，称施罗德已经裁定前一集不可受理。

当法官再次将陪审团送出法庭时，理查兹暗示宾格“试图挑起无效审判。”

理查兹说:“我要求法庭强烈警告他(宾格尔)，下次发生这种情况时，我将带着偏见要求无效审判。

宾格尔声称，他认为“法院对此事不闻不问”，这引发了法官愤怒而响亮的回应。

“是给我的，不是给你的，”施罗德喊道。“你应该来要求重新考虑。”

施罗德继续说道，“当你在开始你的检查时评论被告被捕后的沉默时，我很惊讶。这是基本法。这是这个国家40年、50年来的基本法律。”

那为什么不回家呢?

午休后，宾格继续盘问里顿豪斯，询问他枪击前的行为，以及他是否会将当晚街上的抗议者描述为怀有敌意。

里顿豪斯说，他不认为人群对他或他的团体有敌意。宾格尔播放了一段视频，视频中的人群点燃了一个垃圾箱，并向里顿豪斯和其他保护停车场的人高喊“保护财产，而不是街道。”

但是里顿豪斯说他有一次去街上取回了一个垃圾箱，这个垃圾箱是从汽车之源的一处房产中被拿走并被点燃的。

“你是否同意，人群是对你所在团体的成员走上街头，试图干扰你家附近发生的事情的反应?”宾格尔问。

里顿豪斯回答说:“我不认为他们对此感到高兴，不。”

宾格尔指出，警方将人群向南移动，经过里顿豪斯和他的团队所在的汽车来源停车场，并在基诺沙的第60街设立了一条分界线。

里顿豪斯同意宾格尔的观点，一旦警察将人群向南转移，汽车来源的位置似乎就不会再受到威胁。

“那为什么不在那个时候回家呢?”宾格尔问。

里顿豪斯说，他留下来帮助任何有需要的人提供急救。

宾格尔指出，尽管警察将人群向南转移，显然消除了他所保护的企业面临的威胁，但里顿豪斯还是带着步枪，在另一名武装老兵瑞安·巴尔什的陪同下，冒险越过了第60街的分界线。

里顿豪斯说，当他和鲍尔奇分开时，他正在寻找需要急救的人，这让他在人群中孤立无援。宾格尔说，这似乎是敌意的。

“你现在进入了一群你想叫他们什么的人群，抗议者，示威者。你的律师称他们为暴徒，或抢劫者，或其他什么。这就是你现在要成为的一部分。你会在人群中，对吗?”

里顿豪斯回答说:“我正走过。我宣布自己是友好的，我在那里帮助他们。”

辩方还有三名证人要传唤，然后才能结束他们的案子。结案陈词可能在周五或周一进行。

Kyle Rittenhouse defends shootings, claiming self-defense: Key takeaways from Day 7

Kyle Rittenhousetook the witness stand on Wednesday to testify in his own defense and broke down in sobs as he began to describe shooting three men, two fatally, in what he claimed was an act of self-defense.

In a day of sky-high emotions and high stakes, the defense threatened to call for a mistrial and the judge made blistering accusations of low-blow antics by the state's lead attorney and at one point scoffed, "I don't believe you" when the prosecutor claimed to be acting in good faith.

Rittenhouse began testifying in a Kenosha County courtroom after telling Judge Bruce Schroeder that he made the decision to do so after consulting with his lawyers.

In his hourslong testimony, the 18-year-old spoke of his background as a trained lifeguard, a fire department EMT cadet and a student studying nursing at Arizona State University.

"Did you come to downtown Kenosha to look for trouble?" his attorney, Mark Richards, inquired.

Rittenhouse, wearing a blue suit and matching tie, answered, "No."

Rittenhouse said he went to Kenosha with his sister and friends on Aug. 25, 2020, after seeing online pleas for people to come to the city to help protect it after looting and vandalism broke out over a police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man who was left paralyzed.

"I went down there to provide first aid," Rittenhouse testified, adding that he brought along his medical supplies as well as his AR-15-style semi-automatic rifle.

Rittenhouse has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide. He claimed he shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, in self-defense.

"I didn't intend to kill them. I intended to stop the people who were attacking me," Rittenhouse repeatedly said during his testimony.

'I hear somebody yell, 'Burn in hell''

Richards directed Rittenhouse to the events of the Aug. 25, 2020, shootings. He testified that he had witnessed a police officer being hit with a brick, another man getting his jaw broken and that he had been allegedly verbally threatened by Rosenbaum.

He said he got separated from his friends who were guarding three car lots that had been vandalized. He said he was rushing to put out a fire at one of the car lots when he again encountered Rosenbaum and a man identified by prosecutors as Joshua Ziminski.

"I hear somebody scream 'Burn in hell,'" said Rittenhouse of when he reached the car lot that was being vandalized. "I reply with 'Friendly, friendly, friendly' to let them know, hey, I'm just here to help. I don't want any problems. I just want to put out the fires if there are any."

Rittenhouse testified that Ziminski pulled a gun and pointed it at him when he approached the car lot with a fire extinguisher.

"As I'm walking towards to put out the fire, I dropped the fire extinguisher and I take a step back (from Ziminski)," Rittenhouse said. "My plan was to get out of that situation."

But he said before he could get away, Rosenbaum was allegedly bearing down on him and Ziminski and three other people were blocking his path.

Rittenhouse breaks into sobs

"Once I take that step back, I look over my shoulder and Mr. Rosenbaum was now running from my right side, and I was cornered from in front of me with Mr. Ziminski," Rittenhouse said.

Rittenhouse then began to break down in sobs on the witness stand, prompting Schroeder to call a recess.

When Rittenhouse returned to the witness stand, he picked up his testimony at the moment he said he saw Rosenbaum charging toward him.

"Mr. Ziminski stepped towards me. I went to go run south," Rittenhouse said.

'I shot him'

He said as Rosenbaum began to chase him, he heard Ziminski allegedly tell Rosenbaum "to get him and kill him."

"As I'm running in that southwest direction, Mr. Rosenbaum throws, at the time ... I know it's a bag now," Rittenhouse said, adding that he initially thought it was a heavy chain Rosenbaum had been seen carrying earlier in the evening.

"I turn around for about a second while continuing to run and I point my gun at Mr. Rosenbaum," Rittenhouse said.

Richards asked, "Does that stop him from chasing you?"

Rittenhouse replied, "It does not."

He said Rosenbaum continued to "gain speed" on him and then he heard a gunshot from behind him.

Rittenhouse said Rosenbaum lunged at him.

"I remember his hand on the barrel of my gun," Rittenhouse said.

Richards asked, "As you see him lunging for your gun, what do you do?"

Rittenhouse answered, "I shot him."

'I was defending myself'

He said people in the car lot quickly scattered when he fired four shots at Rosenbaum. He said he tried to go and help Rosenbaum, but as people started to surround them again, he heard individuals screaming, "Get his a--, get his a--. Get him, get him, get him."

He said he immediately called a friend, Dominick Black, who came with him to downtown Kenosha that night and told him that he had just shot someone.

"I had to shoot him," Rittenhouse said he told Black.

He said he started to in the direction he thought the police were positioned.

Richards asked, "Why were you trying to get to the police?"

Rittenhouse responded, "Because I didn't do anything wrong. I was defending myself."

Shooting of Huber and Grosskreutz

Rittenhouse said that as he continued to run, Huber came up behind him and hit him in the back of the head with a skateboard. He also said a concrete rock hit him in the back of the head.

"I get lightheaded. I almost pass out and I stumble and hit the ground," Rittenhouse said.

He said people quickly surrounded him and he pointed his gun at them and they backed off, except for one unidentified man who kicked him in the face. He said he fired two shots at the man and missed.

"I thought if I were to be knocked out ... he would have stomped my face in if I didn't fire," Rittenhouse said.

He testified that Huber allegedly ran up to him as he was trying to sit up and struck him in the neck with his skateboard.

"He grabs my gun, and I can feel it pulling away from me, and I could feel the strap starting to come off my body," Rittenhouse said. "I fire one shot."

Rosenbaum was struck in the chest and died at the scene, prosecutors said.

He said he lowered his weapon and then saw Grosskreutz in front of him with his hands up.

"As I'm lowering my weapon, I look down and then Mr. Grosskreutz, he lunges at me with his pistol pointed directly at my head," Rittenhouse said, adding they were so close that their feet were touching.

He said Grosskreutz held his hands in the air and looked at him.

"And that's when Mr. Grosskreutz brings his arm down. ... His pistol is pointed at me and that's when I shoot him."

Grosskreutz testified that he was shot in the bicep, causing him to retreat and yell for a medic.

Rittenhouse surrenders

Rittenhouse said he climbed to his feet and proceeded to run and walk toward a line of police vehicles to turn himself in. He said he approached the window of a squad car and said, "I just shot somebody. I just shot somebody."

He said the officer responded by telling him to get back and threatened to use pepper spray on him.

The teenager said he then went back to one of the Car Source lots he had been helping to guard and spoke to the group of allies who were locked inside.

"I'm in shock. I was freaking out. I was just attacked. My head was spinning," Rittenhouse said.

He said his friend, Dominick Black, drove him to his home in Antioch, Illinois, where he told his mother and two sisters what happened to him. He said his mother drove him to the local police station, where he surrendered.

He said when he arrived at the police station, "I had to tell them that I was involved in a shooting in Kenosha and I needed the Kenosha detectives."

'I didn't intend to kill them'

Prosecutor Thomas Binger then began cross-examining Rittenhouse by asking, "Everybody that you shot that night, you intended to kill, correct?"

Rittenhouse answered, "I didn't intend to kill them. I intended to stop the people who were attacking me."

"By killing them?" Binger pressed Rittenhouse.

The teenager responded, "I did what I had to do to stop the person who was attacking me."

Binger asked Rittenhouse about sitting through the trial, listening to the 30 sum odd witnesses and viewing multiple videos that captured the shootings.

"And after all of that, you are telling us your side of the story, correct?" Binger asked.

Schroeder then stopped the questioning and after sending the jury out of the courtroom, Richards objected to Binger's questioning, telling the judge, "He's commenting on my client's right to remain silent."

Schroeder agreed, telling Binger, "You need to account for this."

Binger responded, "No, your honor, I am making the point that after hearing everything in the case, now he's tailoring his story to what has already been introduced."

Schroeder warned Binger that it was a "grave constitutional violation" to talk about Rittenhouse's silence until now.

"You're right on the borderline and you may be over it," Schroeder said. "But it better stop. This is not permitted."

When Binger's cross-examination resumed, he began to ask Rittenhouse about his use of deadly force.

"You'd agree with me that we're not allowed to use deadly force to protect that Car Source building?" Binger asked.

Rittenhouse answered, "I wasn't using deadly force to protect the property. I was using deadly force to protect myself."

Blistering rebuke from judge

Binger then asked Rittenhouse about an incident 10 days before the shooting.

"But yet you have previously indicated that you wished you had your AR-15 to protect someone's property?" Binger asked.

Richards immediately objected, saying Schroeder had ruled that the previous episode inadmissibility.

When the judge sent the jury out of the courtroom again, Richards suggested that Binger was "attempting to provoke a mistrial."

"I ask the court to strongly admonish him (Binger) and the next time it happens I'll be asking for a mistrial with prejudice," Richards said.

Binger claimed that he believed the "court left the door open" on the matter, prompting an angry and loud response from the judge.

"For me, not for you," Schroeder shouted. "You should have come and asked for reconsideration."

Schroeder continued, "I was astonished when you began your examination by commenting on the defendant's post-arrest silence. That's basic law. It's been basic law in this country for 40 years, 50 years."

So why not go home?

Following a lunch break, Binger continued his cross-examination of Rittenhouse, questioning him about his actions before the shootings and whether he would describe the protesters on the streets that night as hostile.

Rittenhouse said he didn't believe the crowd was hostile toward him or his group. Binger played a video of the crowd setting a Dumpster on fire and chanting to Rittenhouse and others protecting the car lots to "protect the property, not the street."

But Rittenhouse said he once went into the street to retrieve a Dumpster that had been taken from one of the Car Source properties and set on fire.

"Would you agree that the crowd was reacting to members of your group going out in the street and trying to interfere with what was going on off your property?" Binger asked.

Rittenhouse answered, "I didn't think they were happy about it, no."

Binger noted that police moved the crowd south past the Car Source lot where Rittenhouse and his group were and set up a demarcation line at 60th Street in Kenosha.

Rittenhouse agreed with Binger that once the police moved the crowd south there appeared to be no more threat to the Car Source location.

"So why not go home at that point?" Binger asked.

Rittenhouse said he stayed to help provide first aid to anyone in need.

Binger noted that despite the threat being apparently eliminated from the business he was protecting by police moving the crowd south, Rittenhouse ventured south of the demarcation line at 60th St. armed with his rifle and accompanied by another man, Ryan Balch, an armed military veteran.

Rittenhouse said he was looking for people who needed first aid when he and Balch got separated, leaving him isolated in the crowd Binger said appeared hostile.

"You are now entering a crowd of whatever you want to call them, protesters, demonstrators. Your attorneys called them rioters, or looters, or whatever. That's who you're now going to be part of. You're going to be in that crowd, right?"

Rittenhouse responded, "I was walking through. I announced myself as friendly and that I was there to help them."

The defense has three more witnesses to call before they will rest their case. Closing arguments could come Friday or Monday.