Wendy Rittenhouse says that her son, 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, would be dead if he hadn't defended himself during 2020's violent unrest on the city streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, NBC News reported.
Wendy told "Nightly News" Sunday night that her son would have been murdered if he weren't carrying his rifle on the fateful night he said he was attacked.
"A lot of people shouldn't have been there," Wendy insisted of the riots. "He brung that gun for protection, and to this day, if he didn't have that gun, my son would've been dead."
Kyle is currently on trial for murder in the shooting deaths of two protesters. He has insisted that he used his Smith & Wesson M&P 15 in self-defense while being attacked during the Jacob Blake protests and has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
A third protester was wounded in the fracas.
Kyle faces charges of first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide, and attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
Wendy added that she is proud of her son for taking the stand to issue tearful testimony to profess his innocence.
"I'm scared. Fear. Overwhelm. I was a nervous wreck, my stomach was in knots. Kyle did a good job. When he broke down, I broke down," she admitted. "The whole family broke down when he was breaking down. And I was just so scared for him and knowing, knowing that he's telling the truth, that's what he wanted to do, and I stood by him, and I will always stay by him."
During his testimony, Kyle said, "I didn't intend to kill them. I intended to stop the people who were attacking me."
Lawyers on both sides are set to deliver their closing arguments Monday.
Wendy Rittenhouse opens up ahead of the verdict www.youtube.com
The mother of Kyle Rittenhouse suggested Saturday that her attorneys are considering a lawsuit against President Joe Biden for allegedly associating her son with white supremacy.
During an interview on Fox News' "Fox & Friends," Wendy Rittenhouse was asked if the Rittenhouse team plans to take any action against powerful Americans — including Biden — for "interfering in the justice system" and "defaming" the 18-year-old Rittenhouse.
The elder Rittenhouse had a six word response.
"Our lawyers are gonna handle that," Wendy Rittenhouse responded.
Rittenhouse’s mom on Biden defaming son ‘Our lawyers are going to handle that’ www.youtube.com
In 2020, then-presidential candidate Biden tweeted a video of alleged examples of white supremacy with audio from a presidential debate between Biden and then-President Donald Trump. The video included an image of Rittenhouse.
"There's no other way to put it: the President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage last night," Biden tweeted on Sept. 30, 2020.
During an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity on Thursday, Wendy Rittenhouse explained what she felt when she saw Biden's tweet.
"When I saw that, I was shocked," she said. "I was angry. President Biden don't know my son whatsoever, and he's not a white supremacist. He's not a racist. And [Biden] did that for the votes. And I was so angry for a while at him and what he did to my son. He defamed him."
Of course, Rittenhouse told Fox News she is hoping for — and expecting — a not guilty verdict.
"I'm hoping that the outcome is what I expect: a not guilty verdict," she explained. "But I know a lot of people out there wants (sic) my son to be guilty."
"It's in the hands of the jury, and watching them, they've been taking notes, listening to the truth, and I hope they take that into what the outcome is going to be — not from the media, not from the president of the United States, not from celebrities, not from athletes: It's about the truth," she continued.
Wendy Rittenhouse also said she believes Judge Bruce Schroeder has been "fair."
Wendy Rittenhouse, mother of 18-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse — who is on trial for fatally shooting two men during Kenosha, Wisconsin, riots — says that President Joe Biden "defamed" her son by suggesting that the teen was a white supremacist.
The Kenosha riots erupted following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
During Wednesday's proceedings, a tearful Kyle insisted that he acted in self-defense after feeling cornered by one of the victims.
Wendy appeared on Fox News' "Hannity" on Thursday night, where she called out Biden for wrongly intimating that Kyle was a white supremacist.
In 2020, then-presidential candidate Biden tweeted images of Kyle and slapped then-President Donald Trump for ignoring what the Democrat said was "white supremacy." In the tweet's caption, Biden suggested that white supremacists were partially responsible for the violence that unfolded during the protests.
"There's no other way to put it: The President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacist on the debate stage last night," Biden wrote at the time.
There\u2019s no other way to put it: the President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage last night.pic.twitter.com/Q3VZTW1vUV
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) 1601465700
Wendy told Fox host Sean Hannity that she was furious when she saw Biden's tweet.
"When I saw that, I was shocked," she said. "I was angry. President Biden don't know my son whatsoever, and he's not a white supremacist. He's not a racist. And [Biden] did that for the votes. And I was so angry for a while at him and what he did to my son. He defamed him."
Wendy told Fox host Sean Hannity that her son still has nightmares about the incident and that the 18-year-old still has a "lot of healing to do."
Hannity later asked Wendy if she believes her son is receiving a fair trial thus far.
"The judge is very fair," she said. "The people that I talked to that lived in Kenosha all their lives, they told me that Judge Schroeder is a very fair judge and he doesn't allow no nonsense in his courtroom."
Kyle's defense rested its case on Thursday, and closing arguments are set to begin on Nov. 15.
Kyle was charged with two counts of homicide for shooting 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum and 26-year-old Anthony Huber during the riots. Gaige Grosskreutz, a surviving third person Kyle shot, testified on Monday.
Kyle was also charged with possession of a weapon by a person under 18, as well as multiple counts of reckless endangerment.
You can read more about the case's latest developments here.
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