Prosecutors announce homicide charges against Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old vigilante who shot and killed 2 people at a Kenosha protest

Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, was charged with first-degree intentional homicide after killing two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

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• Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who killed two people at a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, has been charged with multiple felonies.
• Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley charged Rittenhouse with first-degree intentional homicide; two counts of first-degree reckless homicide; and attempted first-degree homicide, the Associated Press reported.
• If convicted, Rittenhouse could face a mandatory life sentence.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who allegedly shot and killed two people at an anti-police protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, has been formally charged with first-degree intentional homicide, among other felonies.

Rittenhouse, who was arrested Wednesday on one charge of first-degree homicide, traveled from Illinois with a firearm and shot multiple people Tuesday night amid civil unrest over the police killing of Jacob Blake.

On Thursday, Kenosha County District Attorney Michael Graveley filed the full set of charges against the teenager: first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, and first-degree reckless endangerment. If convicted of the first charge, he could receive a sentence of life in prison.

The teenager also faces a misdemeanor charge for possessing a dangerous weapon while under the age of 18. He's still being held in the Lake County Judicial System in Illinois, set to be extradited to Wisconsin, according to the Village of Antioch Police Department.

Rittenhouse shot three people in Kenosha before going back to Illinois

Rittenhouse's attorney, Lin Wood, said he was acting in self-defense. An eyewitness told Business Insider that the scene before the first shooting was not violent, but that Rittenhouse seemed "on edge."

A New York Times analysis of video from the scene shows that Rittenhouse shot a man in the head near a gas station, who news organizations have identified as Anthony Huber.

Video then shows Rittenhouse running from the scene while on the phone, stating that he had "just killed somebody." He is pursued by a crowd, falls to the ground, and gets up while firing another round of shots, killing one man, identified as Joseph Rosenbaum, and wounding another, identified as Gaige Grosskreutz.

Rittenhouse idolized the police and was a supporter of President Donald Trump, attending a January 2020 campaign rally for the president in Iowa, as Business Insider reported.

Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes described Rittenhouse as an "outside agitator" at a press conference Thursday.

"[He] came in from Illinois with a long rifle and was able to just walk the streets, freely, like that's something normal we should just come to expect," Barnes said.

Have a news tip? Email this reporter: cdavis@insider.com

• Read more:
• The 17-year-old suspect in the shooting at Kenosha protests sat front row at a Trump rally in January
• Tucker Carlson implies local officials and demonstrators are to blame for the 17-year-old accused of killing two Jacob Blake protesters
• Jacob Blake is handcuffed to his hospital bed, father says, despite being paralyzed after police shot him in the back
• The Justice Department opened a federal civil rights investigation into police shooting of Jacob Blake

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