Negligence claims filed in fatal Rittenhouse shooting during Wisconsin protests
Police try to push back demonstrators near the Kenosha County Courthouse during a third night of unrest on August 25, 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rioting as well as clashes between police and protesters began Sunday night after a police officer shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back in front of his three children. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
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KENOSHA, Wis. (NewsNation Now) — Claims filed on behalf of two men shot by an Illinois teen during a night of protests over a police shooting in Kenosha, Wisconsin, allege the city and Kenosha County were negligent in their response to the unrest.
Gaige Grosskreutz, who was seriously wounded, and the parents of Anthony Huber, who was killed, have each filed $10 million claim notices with both the city and county. The notices usually are precursors to lawsuits filed against local governments.
Grosskreutz and Huber were shot by 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse on Aug. 25 during violent protests that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was left partially paralyzed when a white officer fired numerous shots into his back as police tried to arrest him.
Rittenhouse, now 18, is charged with five felonies, including first-degree intentional homicide. He claims he fired his assault-style rifle in self-defense. Rittenhouse would face a mandatory life sentence if convicted of first-degree intentional homicide, the most serious crime in Wisconsin. Under Wisconsin law, anyone 17 or older is treated as an adult in the criminal justice system.
Grosskreutz’s attorney, Kimberly Motley, says the actions, or inactions, by police and sheriff’s deputies are tied to the shootings.
Motley said the claims lack details typically found in civil suits because the plaintiffs don’t want to interfere with the ongoing prosecution of Rittenhouse, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
You can read the full claim for Grosskreutz below:
Rittenhouse, of Antioch, Illinois, is free on $2 million bail while awaiting trial.
The city of Kenosha is preparing for protests when a charging decision comes in the police shooting of Blake, officials said Sunday. A decision is expected within the next two weeks.
Blake was left partially paralyzed following the shooting and spent time in an Illinois rehabilitation center. In November, Blake reached a plea deal with prosecutors to settle a sexual assault case pending against him. Online court records show prosecutors dropped a felony third-degree sexual assault charge and a misdemeanor criminal trespass charge.
