Teenager charged in Wisconsin protest shooting makes first in-person court appearance

[May 22, 2021]    (Reuters) -Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager charged with fatally shooting two people and wounding a third during protests in Wisconsin last August, made his first in-person court appearance on Friday ahead of trial in November.

Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager charged with killing two people and injuring another during demonstrations on the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, listens to defense attorney John Pierce during an extradition hearing in Lake County in Waukegan, Illinois, U.S., October 30, 2020. Nam Y. Huh/Pool via REUTERS

Rittenhouse, 18, had been attending court hearings remotely from his lawyer's office but was able to appear in person before Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder for the pre-trial hearing following a relaxation of COVID-19 protocols.

The teenager sat to the left of his lawyer and was wearing a blue shirt, navy blazer and black face mask. He did not speak during the hearing, which mainly covered routine matters and lasted roughly 20 minutes.

Schroeder set a few pre-trial deadlines for the prosecutors and Rittenhouse's legal team, including July 1 for any motions and Aug. 1 for a questionnaire for potential jurors.

Rittenhouse has been charged with homicide and five other criminal counts related to the shootings, in which Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber were killed and Gaige Grosskreutz was wounded.

Rittenhouse had traveled on Aug. 25 from his home in nearby Antioch, Illinois, in a self-appointed role to protect businesses in Kenosha, where the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, had sparked large protests against police brutality and racism.

His lawyers have said their client acted in self-defense.

(reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Editing by Bill Berkrot and Grant McCool)

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