© Mark Hertzberg/Pool Photo via APJudge Bruce Schroeder listens during the pretrial hearing of Kyle Rittenhouse on October 25.
Before the trial got underway on the sixth day of testimony, a police lieutenant reported to the judge that someone had been caught recording images of the jury as they arrived at the pick-up point where police transport jurors to the Kenosha County Courthouse.
According to the judge, the police officer made the individual erase the video on their cell phone. It's not clear if that person was banned from the courthouse according to the judge.
Judge Bruce Schroeder said that if it happened again officers should confiscate the camera equipment.
Spectrum News 1 reported that the cop had no idea if the same person had been in the courtroom taking photos.
As I reported on Sunday:
George Floyd's friend, Cortez Rice, who is sometimes referred to as Floyd's nephew, released a video on Twitter in which he claims he knows people gathering photos and other information about the remaining 18 men and women in the jury pool.Cortez issued his threat on Twitter.
Cortez issued the video as an apparent warning to the jury. In it, he says he didn't even "want to name the people that I know that is in the Kenosha trial. But there's cameras in there. There's definitely cameras up in there and there's definitely people taking pictures of the juries and everything like that. We know what's going on. So we need the same results, man." He then began listing people he believed needed "justice."
During jury selection, some jurors worried about civil unrest if the wrong verdict was reached. Others said they felt secure, and the judge promised there would be intense security for jurors.
Sounds like that security failed.
Last year, Kenosha erupted into violent chaos after a black man, Jacob Blake, was shot and wounded by police officers. Many businesses were torched and destroyed by rioters and looters.
Though Rittenhouse is of mixed race on his dad's side and the people he shot are white, his trial is seen through a racial lens because of its proximity to the Blake shooting.
Rittenhouse is charged with six counts that could land him in the prison for the rest of his life. Rittenhouse claims self-defense in the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, as well as in the wounding of Gaige Grosskreutz. He's also charged with endangering an unidentified man, who had kicked Rittenhouse in the head, and for endangering a Daily Caller reporter.
He's also looking at an additional sentence for being an underage person in possession of a dangerous weapon. In testimony on Monday, Gaige Grosskreutz, who testified that he pointed his own gun at Rittenhouse before the teen wounded him, was illegally carrying his gun on Aug. 25, 2020. He has neither been charged with breaking curfew nor for carrying an illegally concealed firearm.
It was also brought out in court that Grosskreutz lied to police multiple times after his shooting and never told them he was armed and pointed his gun at Rittenhouse when he was shot. He's asked for $10 million from the city for his wounds.
Victoria Taft is an award-winning journalist, writer and terrestrial radio talk host, heard in Seattle and on the rest of the Left Coast. Listen to her twice weekly "Adult in the Room Podcast." Find her at VictoriaTaft.com Parler, MeWe, Minds,Locals, Twitter & Facebook. Her book mocking antifa will be out this year. For media inquiries write: Victoria@VictoriaTaft.com
R.C.