Kyle Rittenhouse legally possessed a firearm last Tuesday in Wisconsin, said John Pierce, an attorney representing Kyle Rittenhouse, offering his remarks in an interview on SiriusXM’s Breitbart News Sunday with host Joel Pollak.
Rittenhouse was arrested last Wednesday and charged with murder in the shooting deaths of two people during the previous night’s riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Pollak asked how Rittenhouse obtained a firearm.
“Wisconsin is an open carry state,” replied Pierce. “You’ve seen the video of what was going on in that city. It was a war zone, and Kyle had every right — just as much a right — to be there as the people that were trying to burn down that city, and he was attempting to protect property and attempting to be there to provide medical aid.”
Pierce added, “Every person that has any sense at all is going to take a weapon to that location. It was a legal weapon. I can’t comment right now further on the specifics of where the weapon was obtained. It was obtained as a legal weapon. It did not cross state lines. That charge is incorrect as a matter of law in Wisconsin. Actually, that weapon can be possessed by anyone 16 years or older.”
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Pollak asked, “People are wondering why he would come to a violent scene. Was he looking to be a hero? Was he looking for confrontation? What was his motivation?”
“Kyle was not there looking for a fight,” Pierce remarked. “He is a great kid who serves as a community lifeguard in Kenosha. He was there to protect businesses that were being destroyed and burned to the ground. He was also there to provide medical aid to protesters and others who might be wounded. He actually took a first aid kit there to help wounded protesters, which he did repeatedly.”
Pierce continued, “Of course, Kenosha was burning, and he took a rifle so that he could protect himself if he needed to — and to protect property and to protect others. This is one hundred percent self-defense. It’s not even close. Kyle was actually attempting to put out a dumpster fire that the rioters had set.”
Pierce went on, “The rioters got enraged by that. Kyle actually attempted to retreat. He was chased down by attackers that were repeatedly stating that he should be killed. They came at him lightning-fast and attempted to begin striking him and wrestling with this rifle with an intent to kill. He had no choice but to fire his weapon and protect himself.”
Pollak asked, “Could he have helped these people with the medical kit without bringing a gun, and is that something he thought about doing?”
Pierce said Rittenhouse would have been killed had his client been unarmed.
Pollak inquired, “If that was the danger though, why did he go? If you can’t show up to a situation without a weapon, why go?”
Pierce held, “If we take that line of thinking, then the anarchists have won. He has every right to be in the community that he works in. We cannot turn over our cities to people who simply want to burn them to the ground.”
Pollak remarked, “If everybody showed up with guns, if everybody applied the same principle and decided they were going to enforce law and order. What would the result of that be for our society?”
Pierce determined, “If every law-abiding American showed up in the city that they loved with an AR-15, the chaos would stop immediately.”
Pollak asked if Rittenhouse belonged to any militia.
Pierce responded, “I am not aware of any such facts. … This is something that a lot of people are not aware of, but this is actually the law under Title 10 Section 246 of the United States Code, actually, every able-bodied male in the United States between ages 17 and 45 is actually part of the United States militia, and that is provided for under the Constitution and Congress has enacted that statute.”
Pierce addressed a possible plea deal: “We’re going to trial. We’re going to win this case. If I’m the prosecutor, I drop these charges immediately. I think that this is a rush of judgment, and if I was the prosecutor, I would be terrified to take this case to trial. I do not believe that there’s a jury in this country that’s going to look at these facts and is going to find him guilty for murder.”
“It’s absolute 100 percent self-defense, and we’re going to prove it if we have to,” concluded Pierce. “It was legal for him to possess that weapon in Wisconsin.”
Breitbart News Sunday broadcasts live on SiriusXM Patriot 125 from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Eastern.