Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teenager charged with killing two men during the Jacob Blake protests in Wisconsin this summer, made bail on Friday and walked out of jail, officials said.
“Kyle Rittenhouse’s bond was posted this afternoon at about 2:00 pm which was set up through his attorney,” Kenosha County Sheriff’s Sgt. David Wright said in a statement. “He is no longer in custody at the Kenosha County Jail.”
Rittenhouse, a 17-year-old from Antioch, Illinois, has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide and other charges in connection with the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, on Aug. 25.
His bail had been set at $2 million. The teen has claimed he was acting out of self-defense.
Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley and lawyers representing Huber could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday.
Rittenhosue said he was out on the streets of Kenosha that night, armed with an AR-15 and carrying medical supplies, to protect local businesses and render first aid that night.
In a jailhouse interview with the Washington Post posted on Thursday, Rittenhouse said he used money from a coronavirus stimulus check to buy the AR-15 with a 19-year-old friend’s help.
The accused killer said had no regrets arming himself with a high-powered weapon.
“No, I don’t regret it,” he said. “I would have died that night if I didn’t. I feel like I had to protect myself.”
Blake, who is Black, was shot in the back by a white police officer on Aug. 23 in a confrontation caught on a bystander’s cellphone.
The shooting sparked days of, at times, violent protests in the southeast Wisconsin city. Blake’s shooting prompted the Milwaukee Bucks, who normally play their home games 40 miles north, to lead a brief NBA walkout.
