Rittenhouse trial: Witness testifies Kenosha, Wis., protester was acting 'belligerently'

Nov. 5 (UPI) -- A man who witnessed the fatal shooting of a Kenosha, Wis., protester last summer said Friday that the man had been acting belligerently but was not a serious threat before Kyle Rittenhouse shot him.

Jason Lackowski, a former Marine, testified for the prosecution on Day 5 of Rittenhouse's homicide trial for shooting and killing Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz.

Rittenhouse, an 18-year-old from Antioch, Ill., was 17 at the time of the shooting. His lawyers said he was acting in self defense when he shot the three protesters.

Lackowski said he, like Rittenhouse, was armed and had traveled to Kenosha to protect property during the protests against the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Lackowski described Rosenbaum as a "babbling idiot," saying he was "false stepping," trying "to entice someone to do something."

Rosenbaum "had been ... acting very belligerently, he had asked very bluntly to shoot him," Lackowski testified, according to CNN. The Marine said, though, he didn't consider Rosenbaum to be a serious threat.

Lackowski said he later encountered Rittenhouse, who appeared "frazzled, in shock." He said the teen told him he didn't shoot anyone but that he needed help.

"I told him to run to the police that were down the road," Lackowski told the court.

He said he later heard gunshots in the direction Rittenhouse was running.

Lackowski testified he saw Grosskreutz injured with a gunshot wound so he applied a tourniquet and unloaded the injured man's gun, WISN-TV in Milwaukee, Wis., reported.

Also during Friday's court proceedings, Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed a second juror, this one for a pregnancy-related issue. He booted another juror Thursday for making a joke to a sheriff's deputy about the shooting of Blake.

Rittenhouse is on trial on charges of first-degree reckless homicide, use of a dangerous weapon; two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, use of a dangerous weapon; first-degree intentional homicide, use of a dangerous weapon; attempted first-degree intentional homicide, use of a dangerous weapon; possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18; and failure to comply with an emergency order from state or local government.