Kyle Rittenhouse’s attorney spoke at length to reporters after the acquittal of his client on Friday, and while he celebrated the decision, he also suggested the young man, who was 17 years old when he shot three men, killing two, should not have been carrying around an AR-15.
Rittenhouse was 17 years old when he shot three men during riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year after the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man. On Friday, a jury found Rittenhouse not guilty on all five charges in his case.
Rittenhouse’s attorney, Mark Richards, told reporters that the acquittal left a “huge sense of relief.”
Rittenhouse was not present as his lawyer was giving remarks. Rittenhouse was on his way home, according to the lawyer, in Antioch, Illinois.
However, Richards said he did not like the idea of his client carrying an AR-15.
“I personally don’t like people carrying AR-15s around. You know, there were so much anger and so much fear in Kenosha on August 25th that people did arm themselves,” he said. “And you know we knew from the beginning that if you read that statute correctly, I know everybody thought I was crazy, but if you read the statute correctly, he was legal in having that firearm. And once the evidence came in, the judge threw the charge.”
Watch above, via CNN.