Opinion| The prosecutors in the Rittenhouse case called Gaige Grosskreutz, the third and final man gunned down by Rittenhouse, during the night of rioting. During his testimony, he admitted that he had his gun pointed at Kyle Rittenhouse at the time he was shot, But he claims it was not intentional. But the first rule in gun safety is that you never aim your gun at something you don’t intend to shoot.
By his own testimony, Kyle Rittenhouse shot him in self-defense. And if someone points a gun at you, the prudent thing is to not wait until you hear a bang before taking action to save your life. Grosskreutz testified that he drew his own gun once the shots were fired and that he had his gun aiming at Rittenhouse, prompting Rittenhouse to fire, nearly destroying his arm. What the prosecutors hoped to gain by putting him on the stand is incomprehensible to me.
Grosskreutz said:
“I thought the defendant was an active shooter. That I was going to die.”
Rittenhouse, now 18, is on trial on charges of killing two men and wounding Grosskreutz. The first man shot had been chasing Rittenhouse, who was trying to avert a fight, the second man slugged him with a skateboard and now we know the third man had a loaded gun pointing at Rittenhouse. If this is not a case of self-defense, I don’t know what that means.
Grosskreutz claimed had his arms raised as he approached Rittebhouse This is the old “Hands up, don’t shoot” defense. Then it was the defense attorney’s turn.
He asked Grosskreutz:
“It wasn’t until you pointed your gun at him, advanced on him that he fired, right?”
Grosskreutz, under follow-up questioning from the prosecutor, said he did not intend to point his weapon at Rittenhouse.
Wisconsin’s self-defense law allows someone to use deadly force only if “necessary to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm.” The jury must decide whether Rittenhouse believed he was in such peril and whether that belief was reasonable under the circumstances
Grosskreutz said he had gone to the protest in Kenosha to serve as a medic, wearing a hat that said “paramedic” and carrying medical supplies, in addition to a loaded pistol. He said his permit to carry a concealed weapon had expired and he did not have a valid one that night.
“I believe in the Second Amendment. I’m for people’s right to carry and bear arms,” he said, explaining why he was armed. “And that night was no different than any other day. It’s keys, phone, wallet, gun.”
