Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder, the judge in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, warned prospective jurors of “irresponsible and sloppy journalism” surrounding the case, saying that in many cases the media is biased or uninformed.
“This case has become very political. It was involved in the politics of the last election year. To this day you can go out now and read things from all across the political spectrum about this case, most of which is written by people who know nothing,” Schroeder said. “I don’t mean that they are know nothings, I mean that they don’t know what you’re going to know, those of you who are selected for this jury, who are going to hear for yourselves the real evidence in this case.”
“There is something called the First Amendment, that’s another part of our Constitution, where they guarantee the right of a free press, and it’s the price we pay for having a free press is a lot of irresponsible and sloppy journalism,” the judge continued. “This is not an attack on the media. I’ve read things about this case that were perfect, perfectly stated what had happened in this court. And there were things, I think ‘was I in the courtroom when that happened?’”
Schroeder went on to warn that even “respectable media outlets” could be “deliberately biased” in their reporting, and that jurors should not let the media influence their decision.
“I’m not bashing anybody, but I am going to talk about what you need to do, what you need to be thinking about if you are picked to hear this case, and how much reliance you can put on things that may be just sloppy, which is a vast amount of it. Some of it that is deliberately biased that’s out there, and sometimes from respectable media outlets,” Schroeder said. “But that’s the price we pay for having a free press because we value that, but we also value having a fair trial.”
“So the critical thing you must remember is whatever you’ve read or heard about the case before, whatever you’ve been thinking about the case, you have to be in line with what these people, who risked their lives for our freedom, asked of us,” he added, referring to the Founding Fathers.
Rittenhouse is on trial for fatally shooting two men and wounding another during a riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin, as rioters protested the police shooting of Jacob Blake, an armed black man who was shot as he was allegedly trying to kidnap the child of a woman he had sexually assaulted.
On August 25, 2020, Rittenhouse traveled from nearby Illinois to Kenosha, with the stated purpose of helping business owners and residents protect their property from rioters and looters. Rittenhouse walked around the city armed with a semi-automatic rifle and carrying a first aid kit for helping anyone injured in the riots.
“People are getting injured, and our job is to protect this business, and part of my job is to also help people,” Rittenhouse explained in a video before the shootings occurred. “If there’s somebody hurt, I’m running into harm’s way. That’s why I have my rifle, because I need to protect myself, but I also have my med kit.”
The first man Rittenhouse killed was Joseph Rosenbaum, who allegedly tried to attack Rittenhouse and chased him as the teen ran away.
“Prosecutors cite another video showing Mr. Rittenhouse running, as people yell about the shooting [of Rosenbaum] and chase him. Mr. Rittenhouse trips and falls to the ground, firing at Anthony Huber, who is holding a skateboard and is trying to grab Mr. Rittenhouse’s gun, the complaint alleges. The complaint said Mr. Huber was killed,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “Mr. Rittenhouse also fired upon an approaching Gaige Grosskreutz, who was hit in the right arm, the complaint alleges. Mr. Grosskreutz appeared to be holding a handgun as he was shot. A lawyer for Mr. Grosskreutz didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.”
