KENOSHA, Wis. (AP) 鈥� Kyle Rittenhouse provoked bloodshed on the streets of Kenosha by bringing a semi-automatic rifle to a protest and menacing others, and when the shooting stopped, he walked off like a 鈥渉ero in a Western,鈥� a prosecutor said in closing arguments Monday at Rittenhouse鈥檚 murder trial.
But Rittenhouse鈥檚 lawyer countered that the shooting started after the young man was ambushed by a 鈥渃razy person鈥� that night and feared his gun was going to be wrested away and used to kill him. Defense attorney Mark Richards said Rittenhouse acted in self-defense.
, the jurors were told to return Tuesday morning for the start of deliberations in the case that has stirred fierce debate in the U.S. over guns, vigilantism and law and order.
Eighteen jurors have been hearing the case; the 12 who will decide Rittenhouse's fate and the six who will be designated alternates will be determined by .
Rittenhouse, then 17, shot two men to death and wounded a third during a .
Rittenhouse said he went to Kenosha from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to protect property from rioters in the days after Rittenhouse, a former police youth cadet, is white, as were those he shot.
In closing arguments, prosecutor Thomas Binger said Rittenhouse was a 鈥渨annabe soldier鈥� and was 鈥渓ooking for trouble that night.鈥� Binger repeatedly showed the jury drone video that he said depicted Rittenhouse pointing the AR-style weapon at demonstrators.
鈥淭his is the provocation. This is what starts this incident,鈥� the prosecutor declared.
He told the jury: 鈥淵ou lose the right to self-defense when you鈥檙e the one who brought the gun, when you are the one creating the danger, when you鈥檙e the one provoking other people.鈥�
Rittenhouse, now 18, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, which is Wisconsin鈥檚 top murder count.
Binger zeroed in on the killing of 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum, who was the first man gunned down that night and whose shooting set in motion the ones that followed. The prosecutor repeatedly called it murder, saying it was unjustified.
The prosecutor reminded jurors that Rittenhouse testified he knew Rosenbaum was unarmed. Binger also said there is no video to support the defense claim that Rosenbaum threatened to kill Rittenhouse.
Binger disputed the contention that Rosenbaum was trying to grab Rittenhouse鈥檚 rifle. 鈥淢r. Rosenbaum is not even within arm鈥檚 reach when the first shot occurs,鈥� Binger said. He rejected the claim that Rittenhouse had no choice but to shoot, saying he could have run away.
And Binger argued that once Rosenbaum was wounded, he was not even capable of taking away the gun, which was strapped to Rittenhouse鈥檚 body, since he was falling to the ground with a fractured pelvis. Rittenhouse kept firing, delivering what the prosecutor called the 鈥渒ill shot鈥� to Rosenbaum鈥檚 back.
鈥淚 think we can also agree that we shouldn鈥檛 have 17-year-olds running around our streets with AR-15s, because this is exactly what happens,鈥� Binger said.
In his own closing argument, Richards, the defense attorney, called Rosenbaum a 鈥渃razy person鈥� who was 鈥渉ell-bent on causing trouble that night鈥� and went after Rittenhouse unprovoked.
鈥淢r. Rosenbaum was shot because he was chasing my client and going to kill him, take his gun and carry out the threats he made,鈥� Richards said, adding that Rittenhouse never pointed his gun before being chased: 鈥淚t didn鈥檛 happen.鈥�
Richards said an enlarged image that prosecutors said shows Rittenhouse pointing his gun at protesters is 鈥渉ocus pocus鈥� that doesn鈥檛 prove anything.
Rittenhouse himself looked largely impassive during the arguments, occasionally jotting notes. His mother, Wendy Rittenhouse, listened intently behind him.
With a verdict near, Gov. Tony Evers said that 500 National Guard members would be prepared for duty in Kenosha if requested by local law enforcement.
After killing Rosenbaum, Rittenhouse shot and killed Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 28, while trying to make his way through the crowd. Rittenhouse testified that Huber hit him with a skateboard and that Grosskreutz came at him with a gun of his own 鈥� an account largely corroborated by video and Grosskreutz himself.
But the prosecutor said Rittenhouse provoked that bloodshed, too. He said Huber, Grosskreutz and others in the crowd were trying to stop what they believed was an active shooter.
When it was all over, Rittenhouse walked away like a 鈥渉ero in a Western 鈥� without a care in the world for anything he鈥檚 just done,鈥� Binger said.
The defense, though, said Rittenhouse was set upon by a 鈥渕ob.鈥� Richards accused prosecutors of using the term 鈥渁ctive shooter鈥� for Rittenhouse because of 鈥渢he loaded connotations of that word.鈥�
And in an apparent reference to the police shooting of a Black man that touched off the protests, Richards said: 鈥淥ther people in this community have shot people seven times, and it鈥檚 been found to be OK.鈥�
When the prosecutor displayed a photo of Rosenbaum鈥檚 bloodied body on a gurney during his autopsy and another of his mangled hand, some jurors appeared to avert their eyes. Later, when Binger displayed a close-up of Grosskreutz鈥檚 bicep largely obliterated by a bullet, several jurors winced and turned away.
The sound of a small group of protesters chanting outside the building could be heard at one point, but it wasn鈥檛 clear from inside the courtroom what they were saying or whether the jury heard them.
Supporters have hailed Rittenhouse as a hero who took a stand against lawlessness; foes have branded him a vigilante.
Binger began his closing arguments by questioning whether Rittenhouse was genuinely trying to help.
The prosecutor noted that Rittenhouse had ammunition capable of traveling the length of five football fields and passing through cars, and asked the jury: 鈥淲hy do you need 30 rounds of full metal jacket (ammo) to protect a building?鈥�
But Richards said Rittenhouse, who worked as a lifeguard in Kenosha and helped clean up graffiti before the shootings, 鈥渇eels for this community鈥� and 鈥渃ame down here trying to help, to see the damage.鈥�
The defense attorney branded the trial a 鈥減olitical case鈥� brought by prosecutors who he said need someone to blame for the violence.
Earlier Monday, Judge Bruce Schroeder by a person under 18, a misdemeanor that had appeared to be among the likeliest of the charges to net a conviction. It carries by up to nine months in jail.
The defense argued that Wisconsin law has an exception related to the length of a weapon鈥檚 barrel. After prosecutors conceded Rittenhouse鈥檚 rifle was not short-barreled, the judge threw out the charge.
Perhaps in recognition of weaknesses in their case, prosecutors asked the judge to let the jury consider several lesser charges if they acquit him on the original counts.
In his instructions, the judge said that to accept Rittenhouse鈥檚 the jury must find that he believed there was an unlawful threat to him and that the amount of force he used was reasonable and necessary.
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This story has been updated to correct Gaige Grosskreutz鈥檚 age to 28.
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Bauer reported from Madison and Forliti reported from Minneapolis. Associated Press writer Tammy Webber contributed from Fenton, Michigan.
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Find AP鈥檚 full coverage of the Rittenhouse trial: https://apnews.com/hub/kyle-rittenhouse
Scott Bauer, Michael Tarm And Amy Forliti, The Associated Press