Seven women and five men were selected Tuesday to be jurors in the homicide trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teen who fatally shot two men and wounded a third during a night of unrest after the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
The jury in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was randomly drawn from a pool of 18 people who sat through two weeks of testimony and arguments in a case that’s drawn national attention and sparked debate on gun rights and race.
Rittenhouse himself randomly drew six juror numbers out of a tumbler, which resulted in the 12 selected to decide his fate.
All but one juror appeared to be white, with one man apparently a person of color. As jurors were sent away to deliberate, Judge Bruce Schroeder told lawyers on both sides to stay within 10 minutes of the courthouse in case the panel has a question they’ll need to debate.
Rittenhouse was 17 when he joined other armed volunteers who were protecting private property in Kenosha during the Aug. 25, 2020, social justice protest following the police shooting of Blake, a Black man.
Rittenhouse shot and killed two men and severely wounded a third in confrontations that he claims were acts of self-defense.
Rittenhouse, now 18, is accused of intentional homicide in the slaying of Anthony Huber, 26, and reckless homicide in the death of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36.
He has also been charged with attempted intentional homicide in the shooting of Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, a paramedic from suburban Milwaukee. Grosskreutz had gone to the protest that night to provide medical aid and was carrying a Glock pistol when Rittenhouse shot him at close range.
Rittenhouse is also facing two counts of recklessly endangering safety. He attempted to shoot an unknown person, known in court as “jump kick man,” who tried kicking the defendant in the face and prosecutors said Rittenhouse could have wounded another man when he opened fire on Rosenbaum.
Samira Puskar contributed.