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MADISON, Wisconsin – Prosecutors on Wednesday asked a judge for a new arrest warrant for an Illinois teenager accused of shooting three people, killing two of them, during a protest against police brutality in Wisconsin after apparently violating his bail conditions.
Kyle Rittenhouse did not notify the court of his change of address within 48 hours of his move, Kenosha County prosecutors alleged in a petition filed with Judge Bruce Schroeder. The motion asks Schroeder to issue an arrest warrant and increase Rittenhouse’s bail by $ 200,000.
Rittenhouse’s attorney, Mark Richards, responded on Wednesday on his own initiative that death threats had pushed Rittenhouse to an “undisclosed refuge.” Richards said he offered to give prosecutors the new address in November if they kept it a secret, but they refused. He said Rittenhouse had kept in constant contact with him.
Rittenhouse is charged with several counts, including homicide, in connection with the August protests in Kenosha. The protests began after a white policeman shot Jacob Blake, who is black, in the back during a domestic disturbance, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.
Prosecutors say Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, responded to a militia’s call on social media to protect Kenosha’s businesses from protesters. He opened fire with an assault rifle on Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskruetz. Rosenbaum and Huber were killed; Grosskruetz was injured but survived.
Rittenhouse, who is white, fled to his home in Antioch, Ill., But turned into police the next day.
He claimed he acted in self-defense after the three men attacked him. Tories rallied around him to symbolize gun rights and push back anti-police protesters, though others insist he escalated tensions by marching around the protest with a gun. fire.
The Conservatives raised $ 2 million to cover his bail and he was released from jail in November.
Last month, Rittenhouse was seen drinking at a bar in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, and posing for photos with two men as they made “OK” signs with their hands, a symbol used by white supremacists, according to prosecutors. Five men from the bar also serenaded Rittenhouse with a song that became the anthem of neo-fascist group the Proud Boys, prosecutors said.
Rittenhouse is now 18 but still too young to drink. However, he could consume alcohol in a bar under Wisconsin law because he was with his mother.
The judge ordered him to no longer have contact with white supremacists after this episode.
Prosecutors wrote in their petition on Wednesday that they learned Rittenhouse no longer lived at his Antioch address after the court mailed him a notice and it was returned to him as undeliverable on the 28th. January. the apartment and had been living there since mid-December.
Prosecutors said in their petition that it was unusual for a homicide accused to be allowed to roam freely and for the court to know Rittenhouse’s whereabouts at all times. They did not say if they knew where Rittenhouse currently resides, saying only that he had not provided the court with a new address.
“He didn’t deposit any money, so he has no financial interest in the bond,” they wrote. “He already faces the most serious criminal charges possible and life in prison, so in comparison, potential future criminal penalties are insignificant.”
Richards, Rittenhouse’s attorney, argued in his petition that Rittenhouse and his family had received threats in various forms, the most recent of which was on January 25. When Rittenhouse was released from prison in November, police told defense lawyers not to provide the safe. home address, Richards said.
An attorney working with Richards, Corey Chirafisi, asked Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger by email on November 30 if he could keep the address of the safe house sealed, but Binger refused, according to Richards’ motion.
“It should be noted that the state has only now decided to file a motion to increase the bond in this case, although it has corresponded with lawyer Chirafisi regarding Kyle’s change of residence over two months ago. Richards wrote.
Richards pointed out that Rittenhouse had made all of his court appearances and was in constant contact with him. He provided the address of the shelter to the judge as part of a separate petition asking that it be sealed.
By Todd Richmond
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