Kenosha Shooter Arrested in Illinois

Police. Photo by Highway Patrol Images / (CC BY)

The shooter that killed two people in Kenosha late Tuesday night has been arrested and will be charged with first degree intentional homicide.

Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, Ill. was arrested Wednesday by the Antioch Police Department, according to a press release. He will be held in Lake County, Ill. pending an extradition hearing to transfer custody to Wisconsin, the department said.

Kenosha Police would not give out the names of the victims, only identifying them as a 26-year-old Silver Lake resident, and a 36-year-old Kenosha resident. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up by someone claiming to be the girlfriend of one of the victims, whom she identified as Anthony Huber.

Videos began circulating on social media very early Wednesday morning, showing two murders that took place on the streets of Kenosha, near the intersection of Sheridan Road and 63rd street. Social media users very quickly identified the person seen in the videos killing two people, and shooting another, as Rittenhouse. His identity was later confirmed by the Antioch police department in a press release.

Rittenhouse was a Trump supporter who was in the front row at a Trump rally in January, Buzzfeed has reported.”Rittenhouse’s social media presence is filled with him posing with weapons, posting ‘Blue Lives Matter,’ and supporting Trump for president,” the story reported  “The Grayslake Police Department confirmed that Rittenhouse was a former member of the Lindenhurst, Grayslake, Hainesville Police Department’s Public Safety Cadet Program.”

Rittenhouse came to Kenosha “as an armed vigilante, supposedly assisting police and protecting property in an unofficial capacity but instead he prowled the protest with a gun,” the story added. “Videos captured him fraternizing with law enforcement and attempting to get their attention.”

It is unknown whether Rittenhouse was a member of a militia calling themselves the Kenosha Guard. The group used Facebook to organize a group of armed people ostensibly to protect property in Kenosha from looting and arson. Urban Milwaukee observed many users on the Kenosha Guard page Tuesday night, well before the shootings occurred, that were discussing shooting protesters. Facebook took down the page Wednesday morning following complaints they were inciting violence.

In a press conference Wednesday afternoon, Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis said it’s illegal to open carry a firearm in Wisconsin if you are under 18. He refused to comment on whether Rittenhouse or other heavily armed people in Kenosha Tuesday night were part of a militia, saying he didn’t know. But he said, “Showing up with firearms doesn’t do us any good.”

Mayor John Antaramian was clearer. He said, “No, I don’t need more guns on the street in the community when we are trying to make sure that we keep people safe.”