17-year-old charged with 6 counts in killing of 2 people during Kenosha protests
27 August 2020
Wisconsin prosecutors have charged 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse on six counts — including first-degree reckless homicide and intentional homicide — related to the shooting deaths of two people and wounding of one during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Tuesday.
The big picture: Protests erupted in Kenosha this week after police were filmed shooting 29-year-old Jacob Blake, a Black man, multiple times in the back. Rittenhouse was allegedly part of an armed group who said they were protecting private property from violent protesters.
Details ... Rittenhouse faces the following counts, according to a criminal complaint filed on Thursday:
- Count 1: First degree reckless homicide, use of a dangerous weapon
- Count 2: First degree endangering safety, use of a dangerous weapon
- Count 3: First degree intentional homicide, use of a dangerous weapon
- Count 4: Attempt first degree intentional homicide, use of a dangerous weapon
- Count 5: First degree recklessly endangering safety, use of a dangerous weapon
- Count 6: Possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.