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#What we know about accused Kenosha gunman Kyle Rittenhouse

#What we know about accused Kenosha gunman Kyle Rittenhouse

Kyle Rittenhouse, the baby-faced teenage vigilante charged over the deadly Kenosha shootings, was a bullied high-school dropout with two all-consuming fixations — cops and guns.

The 17-year-old accused killer dedicated his social media to his two obsessions, right from the cover of his now-deleted Facebook profile that had him posing with a high-powered rifle.

“Duty. Honor. Courage. Blue Lives Matter,” read a banner on his profile picture, a counter to the Black Lives Matter movement to instead show solidarity with under-fire cops.

Most of his Facebook profile was devoted to honoring law enforcement, in fact, with regular nods to the “thin blue line” flag as well as tributes to officers killed in the line of duty in his home state, Illinois.

His mom also posted photos of him clad in a blue cadet uniform adorned with a badge — and the teen had participated in cadet programs with the Grayslake Police Department, according to The Washington Post.

It allows wannabes aged 14 to 21 “the opportunity to explore a career in law enforcement” through ride-alongs with officers on patrol and firearms training, according to since-deleted pages on its website. Grayslake police department said it is now cooperating with an investigation by the FBI and Kenosha police into Rittenhouse.

For his 16th birthday, he asked for donations for a non-profit called, “Humanizing the Badge” to “forge stronger relationships between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve,” CNN noted.

The teen’s latest brush with police, however, came when he was arrested at 5 a.m. Wednesday at his home in Antioch, about 12 miles away from Kenosha across state lines, to be charged with first-degree intentional homicide after two were shot dead and another injured late Tuesday.

He was busted for being the man allegedly caught on numerous viral videos running away from where one man was shot in the head, then gunning down two others after falling while being chased.

Rittenhouse appeared to be in Kenosha with vigilante militia supposedly protecting businesses being looted and razed in violent riots sparked by the police shooting of local 29-year-old dad Jacob Blake, which left him paralyzed.

He may have even been part of a group that sought to be deputized to patrol the protests, officials have said.

“Part of my job also is to protect people,” Rittenhouse allegedly told the Daily Caller moments before the shots rang out. “If someone is hurt, I’m running into harm’s way. That’s why I have my rifle. I’ve got to protect myself, obviously.”

He appeared to get the approval of his idols, with an officer caught in now-viral video thanking his group of militia men and handing out water.

The rifle he was carrying also appears to be the same one he has fired for social media posts, including a now-deleted TikTok account.

It was not immediately clear whose rifle it was, nor whether it was legally owned.

At just 17, he could face a Class A misdemeanor that applies to anyone under 18 who “goes armed” with any deadly weapon, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel noted.

However, even that is not clear cut, with an exception for rifles and shotguns allowing people aged 16 and 17 to hunt possibly apply, John Monroe, a lawyer who specializes in gun rights cases, told the paper.

The law in his home state Illinois requires anyone who owns any kind of firearm to have a Firearm Owners Identification card, the paper said — which could be available for someone with a sponsor who is 21 and eligible for a card.

Kyle Rittenhouse
Kyle RittenhouseFacebook

Rittenhouse lived with his mother, nurse’s assistant Wendy Rittenhouse, in an apartment complex, which was under police guard following his arrest, according to the Chicago Tribune.

He had been working part-time as a lifeguard at a YMCA in suburban Lindenhurst until he was furloughed in March — and fired after his arrest.

“We abhor the recent violence in Kenosha,” Man-Yee Lee, a spokesperson for the Chicago-area’s YMCA, told the Tribune.

He was working after dropping out of high school after complaining about being bullied, the Tribune noted.

His mom had even gone to court seeking an order of protection in January 2017, accusing one of Rittenhouse’s classmates of bullying her son with taunts of being “dumb” and “stupid,” as well as threatening to hurt him. Despite expressing concern for her son’s safety, the single mom ultimately dropped the request, according to Lake County court records.

The tribune said she could not be reached for comment.

Before that, he had spent just a few months at Community High School District 117, the paper said.

”I don’t know the details of his departure,” district superintendent Jim McKay told the paper. “He was with us for such a short period of time.”

Rittenhouse also ran foul of the law last week — getting a speeding ticket and a citation for driving without a license in Kenosha, the report said.

As well as a police fan, he also appeared to support President Trump, and posted to social media images of his front-row view at a rally in Des Moines.

“We’re not responsible for the private conduct of people at our rallies any more than … all the crazy people who have been involved with the Obama/Biden campaigns,” Trump’s spokeswoman, Kellyanne Conway told reporters.

Rittenhouse is currently being held at a Lake County juvenile detention facility pending a hearing on his potential extradition to Wisconsin, according to the sheriff’s office.

He was assigned a public defender in Illinois for a hearing Friday on his transfer to Wisconsin. The public defender’s office had no comment.

Under Wisconsin law, anyone 17 or older is treated as an adult in the criminal justice system.

With Post wires

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