Things we’ve learned from Kyle Rittenhouse’s experiment challenge challenging assumptions that have emerged over the past 15 months.

Testimony at the trial challenged many assumptions surrounding the case. As the jurors continued their deliberations, here’s what we learned from the trial:

Was Rittenhouse an outsider in Kenosha that night?

After the shooting, Rittenhouse was in some quarters described as a heathen who appeared in Kenosha and had nothing to do with walking the streets on restless nights.

Rittenhouse testified that he lived in Antioch, Illinois, with his mother, while his father lived in Kenosha.

Antioch is located just across the Illinois border.

He had worked as a lifeguard in Kenosha, was part of a police expedition program, and knew CPR and basic life support, according to his testimony.

Rittenhouse was staying with friend Dominick Black, who was dating the defendant’s sister and testified in the prosecution.

Rittenhouse later said he knew he wasn’t old enough to legally buy a gun, so he asked Black to do it on his behalf.

Black testified that he climbed onto the dealer’s roof because he felt it was too dangerous to be on the ground. At one point, he said he heard gunshots in the distance in the area where the Rittenhouse is located.

Smith, 23, said he contacted Rittenhouse’s friend after he saw a video posted on Snapchat showing Black participating in protests the night before.

Was he there to treat the wounded?

According to Rittenhouse’s own testimony, he lied about being an EMT on the night of the shooting. He testified that he was studying nursing at Arizona State University.

At one point during the cross-examination, the jury was shown a video in which Rittenhouse falsely told the camera he was a certified emergency medical technician.

In closing arguments, the state labeled Rittenhouse a “scam” and compared him to a “quack doctor” who lied about his medical experience.

Does he carry weapons around the states?

After the shooting and arrest, many questioned whether the boy was illegally transporting the gun across state lines.

Black testified that he had previously purchased an AR-15 for Rittenhouse in Wisconsin.

Rittenhouse was too young to buy and own a gun, but he agreed to pay Black to get the gun, Black told the jury.

Black testified that he also had a gun of his own, and that they fired the weapon on target in reality in a rural area.

Black was charged with two counts of knowingly giving a dangerous weapon to a person under the age of 18 causing death, according to court records. He has pleaded not guilty. He testified that he hoped the stance would lead to leniency in his case.

On Monday, Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed the light weapons charge against Rittenhouse, now 18.

Possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under the age of 18 carries a penalty of up to nine months in prison. Counts were dropped due to odd wording in Wisconsin’s gun laws.

Schroeder denied the misdemeanor charge, noting that a weapon longer than the gauge required for it is an illegal “short-barreled rifle” under state law.

Wisconsin law states, “any person under the age of 18 in possession or armed with a dangerous weapon is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.”

A subsection of the statute adds, “This section applies only to a person under the age of 18 who possesses or is armed with a rifle or handgun if that person is in violation of sections 941.28.”

Subsections 941.28 stating that illegality would only apply to persons armed with a “short-barreled rifle”, also defined as “a rifle with one or more barrels less than 16 inches in length” and “a firearm field less than 26 inches in total length.”

Are his victims rebellious?

Rittenhouse shot and killed Rosenbaum – who was chasing the teenager and threw a bag at him – and then tried to run away.

A mob of villagers pursued the teenager, and Rittenhouse shot an unidentified man who was trying to kick him. He then shot and killed Huber, who hit him with a skateboard, according to court testimony and video evidence presented.

He wounded Grosskreutz, an ambulance worker armed with a pistol, and later testified pointing the gun at Rittenhouse. When questioned by prosecutors again, Grosskreutz explained that he never intentionally pointed a gun at Rittenhouse.

Prosecutors describe those confronting the teenager as “heroes” trying to prevent what they believe is an active shooting.

Prosecutor Thomas Binger, in the final argument, told the jury that Rosenbaum overturned an empty Porta Potty, swung a chain, set fire to a metal trash can and wooden trailer, and used used the letter N on the night of the shooting.

“If he were alive today … I would probably try to prosecute him for arson. But I can’t because the defendant killed him,” Binger told jurors.

Binger added, “When you commit arson, we prosecute. We don’t execute you on the street.”

Rittenhouse testified that he was acting in self-defense when he fired four times at Rosenbaum, who he said had threatened him before, chased him, threw a bag at him and lunged at his gun. he.

Rittenhouse mentioned three other people he shot at as part of a “crowd” that was chasing him.

During the closing argument, defense attorney Mark Richards said Rittenhouse feared for his life when he pulled the trigger.

“Everybody who was shot attacked Kyle. One on a skateboard, one with his arms and one with his feet, one with a gun,” Richards said. “Hands and feet can do great damage to the body.”

In his testimony, Rittenhouse said that Huber was “holding a skateboard like a baseball bat,” which he swung down and hit Rittenhouse in the neck. Richards, the defense attorney, said that before Rittenhouse shot Huber, the victim who was shot “hit his head” and would “lick him a second time”, adding that “Huber’s other hand took the gun” in hand Rittenhouse.

Binger asked jurors to compare the teen’s behavior with Huber’s.

“A man is there because he knows Jacob Blake, who carries his skateboard around and rushes into danger to save lives,” Binger said, referring to Huber.

Is he a member of a white supremacist group?

No evidence was presented at the trial for this.

The state claims that a few months after Kenosha’s shooting, Rittenhouse went to a local bar with her mother about 90 minutes after the arrangement. Rittenhouse took pictures with individuals seen flashing an “OK” sign, which prosecutors said was co-opted by white extremist groups as a “White Power” sign.

Prosecutors argued that some of the people he impersonated were at the “highest levels” of the Wisconsin chapter of the Proud Boys.

The defense argued that there was no evidence Rittenhouse knew who they were. The judge agreed.

Schroeder said: “Let me put that as evidence of an engine that existed four months earlier? Can’t see it.”