OPINION | This article contains commentary that reflects the author's opinion.
A video editor named Richie McGinniss testified in court on the third day of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.
He was behind Joesph Rosenbaum when he was shot four times by Rittenhouse, making him a key witness in the trial.
“McGinniss took off his shirt to try to stop the bleeding and carried Rosenbaum to a vehicle so Rosenbaum could be transported to the hospital across the street,” Townhall reports.
McGinniss said Rosenbaum was chasing Rittenhouse, which undermines the prosecution theory explained by Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger.
Rosenbaum was lunging for Rittenhouse’s AR-15 when Rittenhouse’s avenues of escape were cut off in the car lot and a handgun was fired, McGinniss explains.
Fox News host Tucker Carlson suggested Rosenbaum was falling down before Rittenhouse shot him with his rifle.
McGinniss responded by explaining that “lunging” was a more applicable term and saying “falling down” was not a contradiction.
Watch the clip:
McGinnis continually corrected the word “falling” usage as Binger was explicitly trying to imply that Kyle Rittenhouse shot a stumbling defenseless man (Rosenbaum). McGinnis used the word “lunging” over and over to describe Rosenbaum lunging for Rittenhouse. pic.twitter.com/jArG3tjdcl
— John Curtis (@Johnmcurtis) November 4, 2021
“Because [Rosenbaum] lunged and then the shot was fired as he was lunging. It was like, I guess, perhaps it was the shots that caused him to then, rather than stopping himself, just fall flat,” McGinniss said.
“That’s not what you said,” Binger replied while showing a clip of McGinniss saying falling down during the Carlson interview.
“I don’t see why that’s inconsistent with what I’m saying right now,” he responded.
“He was lunging, falling, I would use those as synonymous terms in this situation because, basically, he threw his momentum towards the weapon and when the weapon wasn’t there, his momentum was continuing and that’s the point at which [Rittenhouse] fired,” McGinniss said.
Before ending his second line of questioning, Binger pressed McGinniss to get him to admit he did not know 100% what Rosenbaum was thinking when he chased after Rittenhouse and tried to reach for the rifle. McGinniss said he knows for a fact Rosenbaum said “f*ck you” and reached for the front portion of the AR-15.
For further background information, Rittenhouse is currently charged with one count of first-degree intentional homicide, one count of first-degree reckless homicide, one count of attempted first-degree intentional homicide, and two counts of first-degree reckless endangerment.
This incident took place on night three of riots in Kenosha. The riots were sparked when a police officer shot 29-year-old Jacob Blake. Blake was armed with a knife and ignored orders from police officers. Blake had a warrant for his arrest for charges of third-degree sexual assault, trespassing, and disorderly conduct. Rittenhouse, who is 18 years old now, says he was defending himself from violent protesters.
