Gaige Grosskreutz watches video as he testifies about being shot in the appropriate arm through the Kyle Rittenhouse trial on the Kenosha County Courthouse on Monday in Wisconsin.
Mark Hertzberg-Pool/Getty Pictures
cover caption
toggle caption
Mark Hertzberg-Pool/Getty Pictures
Gaige Grosskreutz watches video as he testifies about being shot in the appropriate arm through the Kyle Rittenhouse trial on the Kenosha County Courthouse on Monday in Wisconsin.
Mark Hertzberg-Pool/Getty Pictures
Gaige Grosskreutz, the one one that survived being shot by Kyle Rittenhouse final yr at a chaotic demonstration in Kenosha, Wis., took the stand in a pivotal second in Rittenhouse’s murder trial.
In three hours of dramatic testimony Monday, Grosskreutz, 27, acknowledged that he was armed with a pistol on the night of Aug. 25, 2020, however mentioned that his arms had been raised when Rittenhouse raised his rifle at him and that he feared for his life.
“I used to be by no means making an attempt to kill the defendant,” he testified. “In that second, I used to be making an attempt to protect my very own life. However doing so whereas additionally taking the lifetime of one other just isn’t one thing that I am able to or comfy doing.”
Rittenhouse’s protection attorneys have mentioned Rittenhouse was performing in self-defense when he fired his AR-15-style rifle that evening.
In cross-examination, they emphasised Grosskreutz’s Glock pistol — which was in his hand in the mean time Rittenhouse shot him — and proximity to Rittenhouse, nearly 3 toes, on the time of the taking pictures. Grosskreutz mentioned he was not deliberately pointing the weapon at Rittenhouse.
Grosskreutz, a paramedic from Milwaukee, had attended dozens of Black Lives Matter demonstrations that summer time, performing as a medic and legal observer. He carried medical provides, made livestreams of the occasions and wore a hat that learn “paramedic.”
Grosskreutz was additionally carrying his handgun holstered within the small of his again. His conceal-carry allow was expired on the time — which Grosskreutz mentioned in testimony that he was unaware of that evening.
The confrontation with Rittenhouse
Grosskreutz was roughly a block away from Rittenhouse when he first heard the gunshots — the sound of Rittenhouse taking pictures and killing Joseph Rosenbaum. As a medic, Grosskreutz ran towards the sound, relatively than away, he mentioned.
However then he encountered Rittenhouse. Listening to shouts from the group that Rittenhouse had simply shot anyone, Grosskreutz determined to run in the identical course Rittenhouse was headed.
Prosecutor Thomas Binger sought to characterize Grosskreutz’s change of course as motivated by the very fact his “companies as medic may be extra wanted within the course the defendant was headed.” Protection lawyer Corey Chirafisi repeatedly referred to as it a “chase,” which Grosskreutz denied.
“I believed that the defendant was an lively shooter,” he mentioned. “Anytime you carry a firearm into that equation, the stakes are a lot increased for each severe damage and demise.”
As he approached, Rittenhouse was confronted by Anthony Huber, who struck him with a skateboard. Rittenhouse shot Huber within the chest, killing the-26 year-old.
Grosskreutz had drawn his gun, holding the pistol in his proper hand and his cellphone in his left. He testified that he didn’t draw the gun “with the specific intent of utilizing it” however relatively to be “prepared” if he felt that it was mandatory.
Then, Rittenhouse turned his rifle on Grosskreutz. Requested what he thought at that second, Grosskreutz replied, “that I used to be going to die.”
Video proof exhibits Grosskreutz stopping and elevating his arms, his pistol pointing within the air. Grosskreutz testified that he noticed Rittenhouse re-rack his rifle to load a brand new spherical into the chamber.
“In that second, I felt that I needed to do one thing to attempt to stop myself from being killed or being shot,” Grosskreutz testified. “I made a decision the most effective plan of action could be to shut the space between the defendant and I, and from there, I do not know … wrestling the gun, detaining the defendant, I do not know … I do know that I used to be by no means making an attempt to kill the defendant.”
Grosskreutz referred to as the taking pictures one of the vital traumatic experiences of his life
Prosecutors sought to attract a distinction between Grosskreutz and Rittenhouse, each of whom got here to Kenosha calling themselves medics.
Grosskreutz testified intimately about his medical training and coaching, and his expertise working as an EMT and a paramedic for a non-public ambulance firm in Milwaukee.
Earlier than being shot by Rittenhouse, Grosskreutz had handled about 10 individuals for accidents from pepper spray and rubber bullets, he testified.
“I spent, up till that time, spent my time, my cash, my training offering take care of individuals. It is not who I’m,” he mentioned, voice shaking, when requested why he didn’t shoot Rittenhouse himself. “And undoubtedly not anyone I might wish to develop into. And in that second, I believed it could — I attempted to try a non-lethal method to finish that interplay.”
After the taking pictures, Grosskreutz spent per week within the hospital for emergency care and several other months doing bodily remedy, he mentioned. He described experiencing lasting weak spot, muscle loss and neurological injury.
Protection attorneys labored to solid doubt on Grosskreutz’s testimony by stating inconsistencies between his phrases in court docket and statements he gave to police within the days following the taking pictures.
Chirafisi requested why Grosskreutz didn’t initially inform police he had a gun that evening.
“I had simply gone via one of the vital traumatic experiences of my life, each emotionally and bodily,” Grosskreutz replied. “I had simply gotten out of surgical procedure. I had simply been sedated. I used to be on ache meds. It would not have been a purposeful omission.”
In January, Grosskreutz and Huber’s dad and mom every filed $10 million negligence claims in opposition to the town of Kenosha and Kenosha County.
Chirafisi advised that Grosskreutz hoped for a conviction in Rittenhouse’s case to enhance his odds of profitable the $10 million.
Grosskreutz has also filed a lawsuit in federal court docket accusing metropolis and county officers in Kenosha of illegally deputizing a “roving militia” of “white nationalist vigilantes.”
