(Trends Wide) — Kyle Rittenhouse, acquitted Friday of shooting three men during civil unrest in Kenosha, Wis., Last year, will go ahead with his plans to enter the medical field, a family spokesman said Friday.
“Now the goal will be to ensure Kyle’s safety as he progresses as an 18-year-old in college studying to be a nurse,” Hancock told Trends Wide affiliate WBBM. “Those are his plans to move on.”
Rittenhouse’s attorney, Mark Richards, said his client has “a great sense of relief” and wants to move on with his life. He added that his client wishes none of the events related to the August 25, 2020 shootings had happened.
Richards said Rittenhouse, who has 24-hour security, does not expect to continue living in the area where he was until now.
When asked about the call for protests after today’s verdict, Hancock said: “The family calls for calm. Call for calm. I mean, this was not an injustice.”
“What I would say is that this is a turning point, I think, for the country to see how things have been handled. Things have gotten off the rails regarding who Kyle is and why he was here. It has never been about politics. It’s not about race. It is about a young man who fled and felt that his life was in danger and defended himself, he added.
Kyle Rittenhouse cleared of all charges
After several days of deliberation, the jury in the Kyle Rittenhouse case reached a verdict. It cleared him of all charges.
The charges – which included first-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter and attempted first-degree murder – stemmed from riots that erupted last year in the wake of the Kenosha police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man. Amid the riots and revolt in Kenosha, Rittenhouse, 17 at the time, took up an AR-15-style rifle and joined a group of armed people in the city on August 25, 2020.
Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum – who was chasing the teenager and threw a plastic bag at him – and then attempted to flee the area. A crowd of people chased the teenager, and Rittenhouse shot a stranger who tried to kick him; he fatally shot Anthony Huber, who had hit him with a skateboard, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, who was armed with a pistol.
Trends Wide’s Ray Sanchez and Raja Razek contributed to this report.
