Former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi has claimed that Kyle Rittenhouse was just “a little boy who was trying to protect his community”. The teenager is an Illinois resident and has been accused of fatally shooting protesters last month in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
What We Know:
- As previously reported, the 17-year old was arrested in late August for the death of two Wisconsin protesters during a night of protests in response to the shooting of Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse was in possession of a semi-automatic rifle in the attack and has since been arrested in his hometown of Antioch, Illinois, and charged with first-degree murder.
- The now controversial actions of this teenager have sparked a variety of responses from numerous conservative influencers and lawmakers. There has been increasing support for the shooter defending his actions and dubbing him a “patriot”. Political commentator Ann Coulter had a tweet deleted a while back where she suggested wanting Rittenhouse as “her president”.
- The most recent instance is when Bondi appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program on Tuesday to discuss the matter. “People have to understand out there, that was a war zone,” she explained. “You have got a 17-year-old out there trying to protect his state.”
“He is helping people who have been injured. He has paramedic training from being a lifeguard. He is taking graffiti off walls. He is trying to mitigate the chaos out there,” added Bondi.
- Authorities have confirmed that Rittenhouse crossed the state border in possession of an AR-15 rifle, to join another group of heavily armed white vigilantes claiming to “assist” in protecting the public property in Kenosha.
- On Friday, Rittenhouse made his first court hearing via a Zoom call in Lake County, Illinois. The hearing was over the status of his extradition and charges he’s facing. He appeared on screen wearing a face mask and from the juvenile detention center in Vernon Hills, where he’s resided since being taken into custody.
- His lawyers, John Pierce of Los Angeles and local Illinois counsel Michael Baker, were also in the call. Pierce explained to Judge Paul Novak that they intend to challenge Rittenhouse’s handover to Wisconsin authorities, a move he had signaled weeks prior to the meeting, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Pierce continued by stating to the judge that the extradition challenge would not be simple. Most of the process would involve a considerable amount of legal research and asked for at least 30 days to prepare a writ of habeas corpus. Judge Novak gave him an Oct. 8th deadline, only two weeks.
