Opening statements in Kyle Rittenhouse’s homicide trial centered around whether the teenager acted in self defense when he shot three people, two fatally, during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin last year.

A jury panel of 20 people including 11 women and nine men were selected on Monday from a pool of about 150 prospective jurors who were summoned to the Kenosha County Courthouse and quickly questioned.

The trial will determine whether Rittenhouse, who was 17 years old when he allegedly shot three men, two fatally, during protests in Kenosha, acted in self-defense, as his attorneys claim. Prosecutors argue that he acted as a vigilante when he opened fire with an AR-style semiautomatic rifle on protestors.

On Tuesday, Thomas Binger, the lead prosecutor, noted that hundreds of people in the city ‘experienced the chaos’ of that night on August 25, 2020.

‘And yet,’ he said, ‘The only one who killed anyone was the defendant, Kyle Rittenhouse.’

In their opening statement, Rittenhouse’s defense team said the case won’t come down to a ‘whodunit’, and that the real question of the case was whether Rittenhouse’s actions were ‘privileged under the law of self-defense’.

Rittenhouse traveled from Illinois to protect property from those protesting after a white Kenosha police officer shot Jacob Blake, who is black. Blake was shot multiple times in the back just three months after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody.

The now 18-year-old faces six criminal counts including first-degree intentional homicide, which would put him behind bars for life.

Dozens of prospective jurors were dismissed Monday after expressing strong opinions about the case, or saying they were worried they couldn’t be fair. Other jurors expressed concerns over their personal safety.

‘No one wants to be sitting in this chair,’ one woman said.

Another woman said she felt anxious because half of the country would be upset regardless of the outcome. The second woman was still chosen to serve.

The jury includes 12 jurors and eight alternates. Eleven are women and nine are men.

One person of color was selected, a man in his late 20s. The man told the court he had friends with views on both sides of the matter and that a police officer from a nearby Wisconsin city was once a roommate of his.

Researchers have found that the racial composition of a jury can have an impact on the outcome.

Blake’s family has even noted the important role race plays in the case, in part because protestors were on the streets that day to decry police violence against black people.

Justin Blake, Jacob’s uncle, has said that if Rittenhouse gets off, it would send an ominous message to black America.

‘If our country shows that you can shoot Caucasians who support us, then this country can never stand up in any international or global hearing and talk about human rights,’ the uncle said.

He added that the outcome could allow white people to ‘ride down every African American community and just have fun, like you’re going hunting or something’.

As jury selection was underway, Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder repeatedly reminded potential jurors that they must decide the case solely on what they hear in the courtroom.

‘This is not a political trial,’ Schroeder said. ‘It was mentioned by both political campaigns and the presidential campaign last year, in some instances very, very imprudently.’

The judge is less focused on Rittenhouse’s Second Amendment right to bear arms, saying he doesn’t want to get ‘sidetracked’ as they work toward a fair trial for the teen.

Several of the jurors are gun owners, including a man who says he owns a gun for ‘home defense’ and a woman who described deep fear during the protests. Another juror is a pharmacist who was held at gunpoint in 2012, but said it would not effect her ability to remain impartial in the case.

Numerous jurors were dropped due to their reactions to the events that unfolded during the events of the protests, where Rittenhouse allegedly fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, after Rosenbaum chased him across a parking lot and threw a plastic bag at him.

Moments later, while running down the street, Rittenhouse allegedly killed Anthony Huber, 26, a protestor from Silver Lake, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse also wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, a professor from West Allis, Wisconsin.

After the shooting, Rittenhouse received much support from opponents of the Black Lives Matter movement and supporters of gun rights. Pro-gun conservatives helped raise $2million for his bail and legal defense.

He was later photographed with apparent members of the far-right Proud Boys.

Schroeder said the trial is expected to last just over two weeks.

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