Cheers, silence, defiance after US teen gunman verdict

WISCONSIN, United States

Supporters of Kyle Rittenhouse let out shouts of victory after the 18-year-old was found not guilty Friday in fatal shootings during Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Kenosha, in the US state of Wisconsin.

The trial had been watched closely around the US and had divided the nation, between those who either saw Rittenhouse as an assault rifle-toting vigilante or as a caring young man who wanted to defend Kenosha after a night of rioting in 2020.

Rittenhouse started shaking and fell into his seat in the courthouse as the five felony verdicts were read, all not guilty. He quietly sobbed as his attorney told him to "breathe".

Outside the courthouse, a handful of his supporters honked horns and yelled "Free Kyle". They also characterized the verdict as a win for the second amendment of the US Constitution, which guarantees gun ownership rights.

A small group of Black Lives Matter demonstrators stood on the courthouse steps in stunned silence.

Rittenhouse had been charged with two counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide and recklessly endangering safety in the shootings of three men in August of 2020, after a night of rioting in Kenosha. Rittenhouse argued he was asked to be there by property owners looking for protection and that he only shot the men in self-defense.

Prosecutors said Rittenhouse was part of a vigilante mob, bent on intimidation and that he was not provoked into the shootings, as he claimed.

The unrest was touched off by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, days earlier. Blake's uncle, who had been demonstrating outside the courthouse since the beginning of the trial denounced the verdict afterwards and was echoed by the parents of Anthony Huber, one of the men Rittenhouse killed.

John Huber and Karen Bloom released a statement saying in part, "Today's verdict means there is no accountability for the person who murdered our son."

Rittenhouse’s defense attorney, Mark Richards, said after the verdict, "We're thankful that the jury got to hear the true story."

He admitted that the length of the jury deliberations, about three and half days "instilled more doubt" in their ability to win the case.

"It was torture."