Rittenhouse jury begins deliberations as Kenosha National Guard braces for chaos: Judge tells jury to ignore 'everyone's opinion including that of the President' after Biden labeled teen a 'white supremacist' in 2020
The jury in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse will retire to consider their verdict on Tuesday at 9am, as the city of Kenosha braced for protests ahead of the verdict.
Rittenhouse, 18, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and other counts for killing Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz on August 25, 2020.
On Tuesday deliberations will begin in the case that has stirred fierce debate in the U.S. over guns, vigilantism and law and order.
The jury has not been sequestered.
Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, is seen in court on Monday. On Tuesday the jury will retire to deliberate and try and reach agreement on the verdict
Members of the Wisconsin National Guard are seen on Monday, 60 miles from Kenosha, on standby
The National Guard will remain outside Kenosha unless there is violent unrest following the verdict
Authorities in Kenosha insist that they are prepared for every eventuality
A boarded-up business is seen with a sign paying tribute to Jacob Blake, who was shot in the back by a police officer but survived. His shooting sparked the riots
Downtown Kenosha displayed messages in support of Jacob Blake on Monday
The city of Kenosha was boarded up on Monday, as the city braced for protests following the verdict
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 drawing numbers from a lottery drum.
On Monday, Judge Bruce Schroeder told the jury to ignore 'everyone's opinion' - including that of President Joe Biden, who labelled Rittenhouse a white supremacist, and Donald Trump, who has described Rittenhouse as someone who acted in self defense.
When the shooting stopped, Rittenhouse walked off like a 'hero in a Western,' a prosecutor said in closing arguments on Monday.
But Rittenhouse's lawyer countered that the shooting started after the young man was ambushed by a 'crazy person' that night and feared his gun was going to be wrested away and used to kill him.
The governor of Wisconsin, Tony Evers, has called up 500 members of the Wisconsin National Guard, to counter expected protest.
'We continue to be in close contact with our partners at the local level to ensure the state provides support and resources to help keep the Kenosha community and greater area safe,' Evers stated.
'The Kenosha community has been strong, resilient, and has come together through incredibly difficult times these past two years, and that healing is still ongoing,' Evers said.
'I urge folks who are otherwise not from the area to please respect the community by reconsidering any plans to travel there and encourage those who might choose to assemble and exercise their First Amendment rights to do so safely and peacefully.'
Kenosha Police Department and the Kenosha County Sheriff's Department said they are monitoring the trial and are working with local and federal authorities to ensure the 'safety of our communities.'
Defense attorney Mark Richards began closing statements Monday afternoon claiming Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger 'lied to the jury's faces'
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger told the jury Rittenhouse was looking for the 'thrill' of telling people what to do, 'running around with an AR-15' with 'neither the honor nor the legal right to do so'. Binger held Rittenhouse's AR-15 aloft as he spoke, pointing it on the corner of the court.
Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum (left), 36, with an AR-15-style semiautomatic rifle after Rosenbaum chased Rittenhouse across a parking lot and threw a plastic bag at him shortly before midnight on August 25, 2020. Moments later, as Rittenhouse was running down a street, he shot and killed Anthony Huber (right), 26, a protester from Silver Lake, Wisconsin
'We recognize that there are varying opinions and feelings that revolve around the trial that may cause concerns,' the two agencies said.
On Monday the courthouse saw demonstrators calling for Rittenhouse's conviction, and supporters demanding his acquittal.
Protesters carried signs that read, 'Know justice know peace,' 'Self-defense is not a crime,' and 'Racism kills.'
Their chants could be heard inside the courthouse.
Among them were Mark and Patricia McCloskey - the Missouri couple who hit the headlines when they stood outside their St Louis mansion armed with guns as Black Lives Matter protesters passed last summer.
Mark McCloskey is now running for the U.S. Senate, hoping to represent Missouri.
'We feel for Mr Rittenhouse,' Mark McCloskey told Fox News. 'We feel he acted in self-defense.
'We think he's been politically prosecuted, as were we, and we're hoping that the jury find him not guilty on all counts and that he can go home a free man.
'Rittenhouse is a young man.
'He was doing the best he could to help his country and to save businesses up here in Kenosha, and as his reward, he's having the rest of his life threatened.'
Residents of Kenosha were braced for unrest.
'No matter which way the verdict goes, somebody is going to be upset,' said Lyna Postuchow, owner of A Summer's Garden, a floral shop.
She told NBC News: 'You always have to be ready because you don't know what's going to happen, but we hope cooler minds prevail.'
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