Kyle Rittenhouse struggled to stay focused and yawned throughout his homicide trial Tuesday in Wisconsin that will decide whether he spends his life behind bars for a triple shooting.
Rittenhouse, 18, let out several yawns as lawyers from both sides prepared to give opening statements in a Kenosha court about him fatally shooting two men and wounding a third during last year’s protests over police brutality.
He yawned often during the proceedings, including when he stood for jurors to enter the courtroom and when his own lawyer began his opening remarks.
The day earlier during jury selection, the teen also couldn’t help himself from yawning.
Rittenhouse, who is an aspiring police officer, is accused of fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, as well as wounding Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, on Aug. 25, 2020.
The shootings coincided with the unrest in the city following the police shooting a few days earlier of Jacob Blake, a black man who was left paralyzed from the waist down.
Prosecutors have argued that Rittenhouse was a vigilante who traveled to Kenosha seeking conflict, while the defense has claimed that he acted out of self-defense.
He faces two homicide counts and one of attempted homicide, along with charges of reckless endangering and illegal possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18.
If convicted of the top charge of intentional homicide, he faces life in prison.
