Kyle Rittenhouse seeks return of AR-15 style rifle used in Kenosha shootings

Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois man acquitted last year of fatally shooting two men and wounding a third during racial justice protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020, is requesting the return of the gun.

Rittenhouse killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, when he shot them with an assault rifle as he roamed the streets of Kenosha with other armed men acting as self-described militia during protests over the shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, by a white officer.

The trial revealed contrasting attitudes of law enforcement when confronted with white men or teens who claimed to be acting as vigilante-style informal security personnel, armed with assault rifles, and Black members of the public or those protesting in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Now 19, Rittenhouse has been fêted on the political right.

On Wednesday his attorney, Mark Richards, filed court documents in Kenosha county seeking the return of the AR-15-style rifle Rittenhouse used on the evening of 25 August 2020, along with other items.

Rittenhouse is also attempting to retrieve ammunition, a sling and magazines, his iPhone, a cloth mask, and a $1 bill. He is also looking to retrieve the clothing he wore the night of the shooting, including boots, a baseball cap, jeans, socks, a belt and a T-shirt.