Judge Delays Extradition for Teen Charged in Kenosha, Wisconsin Slayings
A teenage vigilante charged with killing two people, who had been protesting the police shooting of African American Jacob Blake in Kenosha, will remain in custody in Illinois after a judge on Friday agreed to delay his…
A teenage vigilante charged with killing two people, who had been protesting the police shooting of African American Jacob Blake in Kenosha, will remain in custody in Illinois after a judge on Friday agreed to delay his extradition to Wisconsin.
Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, was charged on Thursday in Wisconsin with six criminal counts including first-degree intentional homicide and attempted homicide after clashes with demonstrators on the streets of Kenosha on Tuesday night.
The former YMCA lifeguard did not appear for the livestreamed hearing in Lake County, Illinois, where he was arrested on Wednesday and is being held without bond pending extradition to Kenosha, said Lee Filas, a spokesman for the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office.
A public defender assigned to the case asked for a delay so that Rittenhouse could retain an attorney. The judge granted the request and set a new hearing for Sept. 25, Filas said.
L. Lin Wood, who said he was part of Rittenhouse’s new legal team, indicated they would argue he acted in self-defense.
The proceedings diverted attention momentarily from the underlying act of violence on Sunday that convulsed Kenosha in the first place – a white police officer gunning down Blake in front of three of his children, leaving him paralyzed.
The incident turned Kenosha, a predominantly white city of about 100,000 along Lake Michigan, into the latest flashpoint in a summer of nationwide protests over police brutality and racism. It also served as one focal point for the thousands of protesters who gathered in Washington on Friday to commemorate the 1963 march where civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr made his historic “I Have a Dream” speech.
Despite his condition, Blake had been shackled to his hospital bed because of an outstanding arrest warrant on three domestic abuse-related charges, including one for trespassing and one for third-degree sexual assault.
The handcuffs were removed on Friday after his lawyer agreed to a court hearing on the matter and the warrant was vacated, his attorney, Pat Cafferty, told Reuters. The officers who were guarding his room have also left, Cafferty said.