Kyle Rittenhouse's defense team did two mock jury trial runs before deciding to put him on the stand for tear-filled testimony
Kyle Rittenhouse was put through two mock trials ahead of his appearance in court to determine whether or not he should testify before the jury - before he delivered his tear-filled testimony.
On Friday, the 18-year-old was acquitted of two counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide for wounding a third man, and two counts of recklessly endangering safety.
Rittenhouse killed two White men, Anthony Huber, 26, and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and injured Gaige Grosskeutz last August during BLM protests - arguing he did so in self-defense.
The verdict was delivered at the Kenosha County Courthouse on Friday following four days of deliberations by the jury - with Rittenhouse seen shaking as he fought back tears.
Attorney Mark Richards (pictured right) said that Rittenhouse (center) performed better during mock trials when he delivered a testimony
On Friday, the 18-year-old (pictured at the stand on November 10, 2021, as he testified) was acquitted of two counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide for wounding a third man, and two counts of recklessly endangering safety
Following the decision, multiple demonstrations broke out across the US over the weekend, with a riot being declared in Portland, looting breaking out in Chicago and hundreds gathering outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York City, to express their anger.
And Bloomberg Law reports that he was prepped for trial by his defense attorneys by staging two different legal scenarios.
In one instance, Rittenhouse did not deliver a testimony before the mock jury, and in the second scenario other he did.
Attorney Mark Richards said that Rittenhouse 'did substantially better' in the mock trials when he did deliver a testimony, adding 'that sealed it'.
The tactic did not surprise retired Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who said that the decision to put Rittenhouse on the stand was 'essential' in getting the acquittal.
He said: 'I don't think you can win a case of self-defense like this without looking the jury in the eye and persuading them that you were really scared.'
Anthony Huber, 26, (left) and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, (right) were both killed by Rittenhouse in August last year
Gaige Grosskeutz (pictured in court on November 8, 2021, as he described the moment he was shot), was also injured by Rittenhouse last year
Wisconsin law dictates that a person can use deadly force if they reasonably believe 'such force is necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or herself.'
And Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the shootings claimed self-defense on the grounds that the men he killed had threatened him and he was fearful for his life.
While delivering his testimony, Rittenhouse visibly wept as he described the terror he felt prior to the shootings.
Following the verdict, demonstrations broke out across the US, with police in Portland forced to declare a riot after protestors turned violent, clashing with officers and smashing windows.
Masses of people gathered coast-to-coast Friday night to decry Rittenhouse's acquittal in protests that reflected the divisiveness and anger stoked by the high-profile case.
Hours after the verdict, police in Portland were forced to declare a riot after about 200 protestors turned destructive, damaging the front gate of the Multnomah County Justice Center and clashing with officers.
A small trash fire was started near the Justice Center by protestors on Friday night who were declared rioters by police after police said they became destructive and were told to clear the area
A protestor blocks a Portland Police vehicle as officers clashed with protestors who took to the streets to decry Kyle Rittenhouse's acquittal on Friday
'Due to violent, destructive behavior by a significant part of the crowd, the gathering in downtown Portland is a RIOT. All participants are instructed to proceed away to the WEST,' the Portland Police Bureau wrote on Twitter.
According to police, rioters threw objects at officers, smashed the rear window of a police car as well as windows from the city print shop and spray-painted the justice center building with graffiti that read 'all cops are Kyles, no justice, no peace', FOX 12 reported.
Protestors were warned they would be arrested and were subject to force if they remained in the area.
In total, one person was arrested for a warrant and five citations and 17 warnings were issued, FOX 12 reported.
In Chicago looters broke into a Neiman Marcus and a Game Stop on the Southside as protest went on in the downtown area.
FOX 32 reported that 15 males stormed into a Mag Mile Neiman Marcus store, stealing merchandise and escaping in three separate vehicles.
Demonstrators holds signs as they rallied and marched around Chicago's Loop neighborhood as lootings took place in the city's Downtown and South Side neighborhoods on Friday night
Portland Police are equipped in riot gear as they square off with protestors who police said smashed windows and threw objects at police on Friday
Overhead footage shows a South Side GameStop store with broken glass and merchandise on the ground, but police did not confirm if it was a looting, FOX 32 reported.
In New York City, hundreds gathered outside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn to express their fury in the verdict as similar events unfolded across the nation.
Scores of people were seen marching through New York about 7 p.m. carrying signs that branded Rittenhouse as a 'racist killer' and the judicial system as biased.
'The message is that when you stand up for black liberation, when you stand up for black lives, no matter who you are you automatically become a target of the system,' Na-Lakan Masego, a protester, told CBS New York.
Another speaker at the rally said the jury's verdict was a blow to the entire nation.
'By allowing Kyle Rittenhouse to walk away, this entire country – this government – has slapped us all in the face for the millionth time,' he told the crowd. 'We cannot allow them to continue treating us like we do not exist because they hurt us.'
Pictured: Demonstrators protest against the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on November 19
Pictured: Justin Blake, the uncle of Jacob Blake, is seen outside Kenosha County Courthouse on November 19, 2021, in the hours before the the acquittal of Kyle Rittenhouse was announced
Following the Rittenhouse verdict, and with the looming end of another controversial trial of three white men who chased down and shot a black jogger called Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia, tensions are high right now.
One protestor described the situation in America following the verdict as 'a tinderbox right now and it feels like all it will take is one more match for the whole thing to go up.'
Rittenhouse has become a poster boy for the American Right with Donald Trump congratulating him on his acquittal. 'It's called being found NOT GUILTY. And by the way, if that's not self defense, nothing is!,' the former US President said in a statement posted on Twitter by his office.
But President Joe Biden, who described the teenager as a 'white supremacist' during last year's US election race, said: 'While the verdict in Kenosha will leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included, we must acknowledge that the jury has spoken.'
Rittenhouse opened fire with an assault-style AR-15 rifle during protests about the shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake, by a white police officer, last August.
His legal team argued he had been in fear for his life because an unarmed man swung at him with a skateboard and another approached him with a pistol. Prosecutors portrayed Rittenhouse, just 17 at the time, as a 'wannabe soldier' who 'decided to impart his own style of vigilante justice'.
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