The question before jurors was whether it was beyond a reasonable doubt that Rittenhouse, then 17, was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, then 26. Rittenhouse testified that he had traveled to the protests from his home in Illinois to help protect private property and that he fired in self-defense after being threatened.

Defense attorneys successfully argued that Rosenbaum had chased Rittenhouse and tried to grab his rifle, that Huber had struck him with a skateboard and Grosskreutz had pointed a loaded pistol at him.

“There was a gun pointed at me; I was in fear for my life,” Rittenhouse testified.

But Grosskreutz also testified that he feared for his life and was trying to disarm Rittenhouse. Asked what he was thinking at the time, Grosskreutz testified, “that I was going to die.”