Where To Watch A Walk In The Garden Of Words

Officer testifies about why they let Rittenhouse walk away after shooting — Kenosha Police Officer Pep Moretti testifies about the night of Aug. 25, 2020 in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial Friday at the Kenosha County Courthouse.

Kenosha Police Officer Pep Moretti describes being surrounded by armed individuals during unrest in the city on Aug. 25, 2020, the night that Kyle Rittenhouse shot three people, two fatally. Rittenhouse has said he traveled to the city to help defend property and shot the men in self-defense. Moretti says he and his partner advised supporters to go home: "Being out here is only causing more problems."

On the morning after Kyle Rittenhouse shot three people, killing two, of the many videos circulating online one that drew particular outrage was what happened after the shooting.

Rittenhouse, with his AR-15 strapped to his chest, is seen headed away from the scene, at first running, then walking north on Sheridan Road with his hands up as law enforcement vehicles are headed south.

Voices of people in the street can be heard shouting to police that a shooter was headed toward them. "That dude just shot them. Dude right there just shot them all down there. Hey, he just shot them. That dude right there, he shot someone," a man can be heard frantically screaming at the police as Rittenhouse walked toward, and then beside the police vehicles.

"Is someone injured straight ahead," a voice can be heard asking as the vehicles drive past Rittenhouse.

That interaction, caught on video three days after a Kenosha Police officer was captured on video shooting Jacob Blake, sparked outrage over the perception that the white teenager carrying a rifle walked away from a shooting scene without arrest.

On Friday during day five of the Rittenhouse trial in Kenosha County Circuit Court, Kenosha Police Officer Pep Moretti testified that he was in one of the vehicles that passed Rittenhouse. The teen is accused of killing Anthony Huber of Silver Lake and Joseph Rosenbaum of Kenosha and seriously injuring Gaige Grosskreutz of West Allis on Aug. 25, 2020, during the widescale unrest that followed Blake's shooting.

Officers' commands disobeyed

Moretti said that he and his partner had been on foot near 60th Street and 11th Avenue when they heard gunfire and learned from dispatch that there were reports of injured people on the 6300 block of Sheridan Road.

Moretti said they got in their squad car and drove east on 60th to Sheridan and began heading south, but then stopped to let police in armored BearCats pass them.

"At that time an unknown white male (who he later learned was Rittenhouse) was approaching us toward the front of our patrol vehicle," Moretti said, saying he was walking toward them with his hands up and the rifle on his chest.

Moretti said he and his partner were yelling at Rittenhouse to get out of the road, but he continued to walk toward them. When Rittenhouse did not stop, Moretti said, he pulled his service weapon and pointed it at Rittenhouse, and his partner sprayed pepper spray toward the teen.

"Did you think he might be the shooter?" Assistant District Attorney James Kraus asked.

"At that point no. In my prior experience in law enforcement, when someone surrenders to us they will put their hands up but then they will take a further step and generally drop to their knees," Moretti said. "They'll usually follow commands. I've never in my career had someone put their hands up and continue to advance and disobey orders to not advance on us."

Moretti said that after the teen was sprayed with pepper spray, Rittenhouse walked past them north on Sheridan, and Moretti and his partner headed toward the scene of the shooting.

Moretti said during his testimony Friday that they saw so many people that day with rifles — many who approached police with hands up — that it did not seem to him evident that Rittenhouse was tied to the shooting.

"At that point in time that night, no, at that point throughout that entire shift — I probably spoke to more people who had pistols and rifles and baseball bats, and you name it, than not," he said.

Moretti said they could also still hear gunfire.

"There was constant gunfire — that was one of the things that when we first encountered Mr. Rittenhouse that (he) didn't set off any alarms for us as far as him being a potential shooter in this incident," Moretti said, "Because there was still active gunfire and we thought there was an active threat."

On cross examination by defense attorney Corey Chirafisi, Moretti was shown the video of Rittenhouse walking toward the police vehicles and was asked if he could hear the people who were yelling that Rittenhouse had shot people. "At this point I cannot," he said.

"To be fair, in hindsight the person involved in this, you didn't know it at this point, but he was effectively surrendering to you," Chirafisi said.

"That's quite possible, yes," Moretti said.

Mom suggested fleeing

Rittenhouse's friend Dominick Black testified earlier in the week that when Rittenhouse came to the Car Source lot on 59th Street and Sheridan where Black was waiting after the shooting, they drove back to Antioch, Ill., to Rittenhouse's apartment.

Black testified that Rittenhouse's mother Wendy Rittenhouse talked about Rittenhouse fleeing, but Black advised Rittenhouse to turn himself in to police. Rittenhouse and his mother then went to the Antioch Police station.

Video and photos: Day 5 of the Kyle Rittenhouse Trial

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RITTENHOUSE TRIAL

Rittenhouse trial Day 5

RITTENHOUSE TRIAL

RITTENHOUSE TRIAL Day 5

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Where To Watch A Walk In The Garden Of Words

Source: https://www.kenoshanews.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/watch-now-officer-testifies-about-why-he-and-partner-let-rittenhouse-walk-away-after-shooting/article_7a10c970-ca47-5273-8705-1de983b1bb3a.html

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