Opening statements are underway in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse

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Kyle Rittenhouse listens as jurors are asked questions by the judge during jury selection at the Kenosha County Courthouse on Nov. 1, 2021 in Kenosha, Wis. Rittenhouse shot three demonstrators, killing two of them, during a night of unrest that erupted in Kenosha after a police officer shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back while police attempted to arrest him in August 2020.





Sean Krajacic/Pool/Getty Images



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Sean Krajacic/Pool/Getty Images



America Reckons With Racial Injustice
Jury seated for trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot and killed 2 protesters

There, in a set of chaotic encounters with demonstrators, Rittenhouse shot and killed Anthony Huber, 26, and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and injured Gaige Grosskreutz. His lawyers argue that he acted in self-defense.

Rittenhouse faces felony charges of first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree recklessly endangering safety, along with a pair of lesser charges for possessing a gun as a minor and failure to comply with curfew that night.



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Prosecutors cannot call those shot by Kyle Rittenhouse ‘victims.’ But ‘looters’ is OK

Jury selection began Monday and took just one day.

Of the 150 or so potential jurors that had been called to the courthouse for selection, not one raised their hand when the judge asked if there was anyone in the pool who had not heard of the Rittenhouse case. Many were dismissed when they said they had already made up their minds.

The jury is composed of 11 women and 9 men.

Judge Bruce Schroeder instructed them to avoid news coverage and talking with anybody about the case during the trial, which is expected to last two weeks.

Schroeder, 75, has served as a judge in Kenosha County for nearly 40 years. He is the longest-serving judge in the state. His decisions in the case have already drawn national attention — in particular his move to bar prosecutors from referring to those Rittenhouse killed as «victims,» while allowing defense lawyers to refer to them as «looters» and «arsonists.»