Judge rejects new warrant for Rittenhouse

A Wisconsin judge on Thursday rejected a request from prosecutors for a new arrest warrant for Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teenager accused of fatally shooting two demonstrators and injuring a third at an anti-police brutality protest last summer. 

The Associated Press reported that Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder also rejected an additional request for a $200,000 bail increase for the 18-year-old. 

Prosecutors last week argued that Rittenhouse, who was released from jail on bond in November, had moved to a new address without notifying court officials within 48 hours.

Rittenhouse’s bail was previously set at $2 million after he was charged with first-degree intentional homicide and attempted intentional homicide in connection with the incident at protests sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha last August. 

Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, is also facing a misdemeanor charge of underage firearm possession for wielding a semi-automatic rifle

His initial bond had been paid through an account organized by his legal team.

In January, Rittenhouse pleaded not guilty to the charges after previously arguing he had acted in self-defense during the protest.

The AP reported that Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger argued last week that prosecutors discovered Rittenhouse no longer lived at his Antioch, Ill., address after it received back an undelivered court notice. 

Rittenhouse’s attorneys argued that he had moved to an undisclosed “safe house” after his initial bail was posted, adding that they would reveal Rittenhouse’s current address if prosecutors agreed to keep it sealed. 

Mark Richards, one of Rittenhouse’s attorneys, wrote in a filing, “It is of concern to the defense that any information regarding Kyle’s location being publicly available would result in immediate harm to the Rittenhouse family.” 

However, Binger declined a deal, arguing that the defendant’s address is public record. 

According to the AP, Rittenhouse’s attorney’s filed on Feb. 3 what they claimed was a current address, though Binger said it was the location of a post office box, which he called “completely unacceptable.” 

Rittenhouse had traveled from Illinois to Wisconsin in August in response to calls to defend local businesses amid the ongoing protests following the police shooting of Blake, an unarmed Black man who was ultimately left paralyzed from the waist down.