Kyle Rittenhouse purchased a semi-automatic rifle by government incentive check and allegedly shot two men.
Rittenhouse used a friend to purchase the weapon as Wisconsin’s law does not allow an individual younger than 18 years to own a gun. Dominic Black,18, bought the rifle for Rittenhouse from a Wisconsin hardware store. Black kept the gun at his home before giving it to Rittenhouse.
The law allows individuals younger than 18 years to practice shooting under adult supervision. However, carrying firearms in public is illegal. Dominic Black was released on bail after paying a fine of $2500. He was charged with the crime of intentionally supplying a dangerous weapon to a minor.
“I don’t regret my decision to buy a weapon. I need it for self-protection, and I might have lost my life that day if I didn’t have this rifle,” Rittenhouse said in an interview.
Rittenhouse’s mother, Wendy, also felt nothing wrong with a teenager having a rifle for self-defense. According to Black, she is looking for a firearm owner’s ID card in Illinois as she wants to keep the weapon legally.
Rittenhouse allegedly shot Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum to death on August 25. He also wounded another individual the same day in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The first-degree murder allegations against him can end up in life imprisonment if convicted.
He said he was surrounded by people pointing guns at him and what he did was an act of self-defense. The incident took place during a protest against the police shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake.
“Since my childhood, I was not sure whether I’d become a police officer, a paramedic, or a firefighter. I love my country! That day I was volunteering to remove graffiti from a high school,” Rittenhouse said in an interview.
Wendy said that lootings erupted after Blake’s murder, and her son wanted to protect the businesses in Kenosha. If the police had helped the affected individuals, her son wouldn’t have felt the need to buy a rifle. The case had become a topic of a political debate – supported by conservatives and condemned by liberals.