Friend who bought Rittenhouse gun will stand trial

The friend of accused Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse will stand trial for purchasing the gun for the teenager, who’s accused of using it to fatally shoot two protesters in August.

Nineteen-year-old Dominick Black appeared before the Kenosha County Circuit Court earlier this month after prosecutors charged him with two felony counts of intentionally selling a firearm to a minor, 17-year-old Rittenhouse.

Black’s attorney Robert Keller argued before his client’s preliminary hearing Thursday that the complaint should be dismissed or lowered to a single count. However, Court Commissioner Loren Keating denied both motions, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

Keating found probable cause regarding the charges after hearing a detective’s testimony about how Black acquired the assault-style firearm for Rittenhouse, who officials allege later used it to kill two protesters and injure a third.

Earlier on Thursday, it was reported that Rittenhouse admitted to using pandemic stimulus money from the government to purchase the rifle in April.

“I got my $1,200 from the coronavirus Illinois unemployment because I was on furlough from YMCA,” Rittenhouse told The Washington Post. “And I got my first unemployment check, so I was like, ‘Oh, I’ll use this to buy it.’ “

Additionally, police records show Rittenhouse stored the weapon at Black’s stepfather’s house in Kenosha on Aug. 25. Later that evening, Rittenhouse fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz.

The teenager has maintained that he did not regret having a gun that night as protests took place across town in the days after the police shooting of a Black man named Jacob Blake, and Rittenhouse’s lawyers have claimed his actions were in self defense.

One of Rittenhouse’s siblings told the Post that her brother supported peaceful demonstrations but was against the violence, labeling rioters in Kenosha as “monsters.”

Rittenhouse faces several charges, including one count of first-degree intentional homicide, attempted homicide, reckless homicide, recklessly endangering safety, and illegal possession of a firearm.

His preliminary hearing is slated for Dec. 3.