Rittenhouse Prosecutor Slammed for Pointing Gun at Jury During Closing Arguments
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Kyle Rittenhouse, an 18-year-old resident of Antioch, Illinois, shot two men dead and wounded another during riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August 2020 which followed the police shooting of an unarmed black man.
Thomas Binger, the assistant district attorney prosecuting Kyle Rittenhouse, was ridiculed online after he had pointed an AR-15 at the jury during closing arguments in Rittenhouse's trial on Monday.
During his two-hour-long speech at the arguments, Binger apparently tried to re-enact what he believed was visible on blurry drone footage from the riots, showing Rittenhouse just moments before he fatally shot two men. According to the attorney, that was the moment when Rittenhouse "lost the right to self defence" and provoked violence.
A photo of Binger holding a gun before the jury has been widely circulated online, with many netizens pointing to the fact that the attorney had his hand on the trigger while re-enacting Rittenhouse's movements which was not safe.
Why hasn't Thomas Binger been arrested for threatening the jury with a gun? Doesn't Wisconsin apply their laws equally to everyone?
— Morning Coffee (@PeopRepAlex) November 16, 2021
#ThomasBinger You should have been immediately arrested for the total irresponsibility of gun handling. You are a total IDIOT!
— Mike Able (@Mike6Able) November 16, 2021
Some people compared the moment to actor Alec Baldwin fatally shooting cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set last month.
Dear #Kenosha: ADA Thomas Binger knowingly committed an unsafe act with a firearm and could have #AlecBaldwin’ed the jury in the #KyleRittenhouseTrial. Not cool. pic.twitter.com/Odb8gRexxz
— Firearms Policy Coalition (@gunpolicy) November 15, 2021
The prosecutor Thomas Binger held an AR-15 in the courtroom today to “demonstrate” what Kyle Rittenhouse did in Kenosha. 🤦🏻
— Storm_Chaser (@StmCh_) November 15, 2021
(I have added corrections for the lay reader at home.) pic.twitter.com/vvfbZOCRY4
Binger was trying to portray Rittenhouse as an outsider who came to Kenosha on 25 August 2020 to shoot down protesters who had taken to the streets in outrage over the fatal police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man who had been charged with sexual assault. Rittenhouse, whose father lives in Kenosha, claims he acted in self-defence when he shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gage Grosskreutz, 27, all white. If convicted of murder, Rittenhouse faces life in prison.
A verdict in his case is due on Tuesday after consideration by the jury.
