Paramedic Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, testified today that he unholstered his handgun while following Kyle Rittenhouse after he witnessed him fatally shoot Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, according to a CNN report.
Seventeen at the time of the incident, Rittenhouse, now 18, is the subject of an ongoing trial regarding the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum; Anthony Huber, 26; and the wounding of Grosskreutz during the Kenosha riots of August 2020.
Rittenhouse has pleaded not guilty to seven charges, including first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, and first-degree attempted intentional homicide – the last referring to his confrontation with Grosskreutz.
A video circulated after August 25, 2020 – the day of the incident - showed Grosskreutz seemingly rushing towards Rittenhouse. Grosskreutz, also armed, was then shot in the right hip by the teenager.
Grosskreutz testifies that he saw Rittenhouse rerack his weapon for gunfire and acted accordingly, going for his gun.
"Reracking the weapon in my mind meant that the defendant pulled the trigger while my hands were in the air, but the gun didn't fire, so by reracking the weapon I inferred the defendant wasn't accepting my surrender," he said.
However, in a cross-examination, Rittenhouse’s defense attorney Corey Chirafisi pointed out that Rittenhouse fired when Grosskreutz aimed his gun at him.
"It wasn't until you pointed your gun at him, advanced at him with your gun ... that he fired," Chirafisi said.
"Right," Grosskreutz responded.
Seemingly implicating himself, the prosecution asked Grosskreutz to clarify his statement.
"At any point during that encounter did you intentionally point your firearm at the defendant?" prosecutor Thomas Binger asked.
"No, I did not," he responded.
Grosskreutz later acknowledged he incorrectly told police last year that his firearm had fallen out of his pants, and that he did not have a weapon when confronting Rittenhouse.
He testified his reason for attending the protest was to provide first aid, as he had done previously during the Black Lives Matter demonstrations in Milwaukee.
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