Wendy Rittenhouse: 'I would have stopped' Kyle from going to Kenosha
KENOSHA, Wis. - New details about what happened the night two people were shot and killed during unrest in Kenosha. We're hearing from the mother of the 17-year-old charged with homicide for the first time. Wendy Rittenhouse spoke about the current status of her son's case. Kyle Rittenhouse's family and attorney are working to raise money so they can pay his bail and bring him home. Cash bond was set at $2 million as prosecutors argue he should remain behind bars for life.
The night captured on video seen around the world is one the Rittenhouse family doesn't talk about.
Kyle Rittenhouse
"We don't talk about that," said Wendy Rittenhouse. "We talk about our future. The past is our past, and you work on your future."
Prosecutors say Kyle Rittenhouse fatally shot two people and injured a third Aug. 25 in Kenosha. His mom and attorney say he did kill those people, but it was self-defense.
"Kyle went there to help people," said Wendy Rittenhouse. "He had his medic kit there to help injured protesters, or injured bystanders, or anyone that was injured."
Kyle Rittenhouse
Wendy Rittenhouse said she did not know her son was going to be there that night. She thought he was at a friend's house.
She would not comment on whether she knew anything about the gun. Police records say Rittenhouse gave money to his friend, Dominick Black, to purchase the weapon. Black is charged with supplying a weapon to a minor, causing death.
"I'm not talking about the gun," said Wendy Rittenhouse. "When it's time, then I will talk about this gun, but at this moment, I will not talk about the gun."
Kenosha shooting
She would say that she wishes this had never happened, and that she would have stepped in if she knew about her son's plans.
"I would have stopped him because going down there -- it wasn't a protest," said Wendy Rittenhouse. "It was a mob. People were rioting, looting, destroying Kenosha, burning it down. It wasn't a peaceful protest."
Kyle Rittenhouse
As the Rittenhouse family works to raise money to meet Kyle's $2 million cash bond, another family hopes he stays behind bars.
The father of Anthony Huber, one of the men killed that night in Kenosha, spoke during Kyle Rittenhouse's initial court appearance in Wisconsin Nov. 2.
"Self-defense -- that is impossible," said John Huber. "That is impossible. I don't know what part of the video you watched, but he already killed a guy -- shot him in the head and tried to run, and my son was a hero. He tried to stop him."
Rittenhouse next faces a Dec. 3 preliminary hearing. His attorney said he plans to put the 17-year-old on the stand to testify in his own defense. If found guilty on all charges, he faces life in prison.