Kyle Rittenhouse on Tuesday randomly selected the seven women and five men who will decide whether he should be held criminally responsible for gunning down two men during a social justice protest in Wisconsin last year.
The Kenosha jury was picked from a pool of 18 people who sat through two weeks of testimony and arguments in a case that has drawn national attention and sparked debates over gun rights and race.
Rittenhouse randomly drew six jurors' numbers out of a tumbler, which resulted in the 12 selected to decide his fate.
Rittenhouse, of nearby Antioch, Illinois, reached into the brown tumbler and pulled out six pieces of paper, one at a time. Each had a number that corresponded to a prospective juror.
Rittenhouse carefully placed the pieces of paper on the defense table before a court official collected them and showed them to prosecutors.
All but one juror appeared to be white, with one man apparently a person of color.
As jurors were sent away to deliberate, Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder told lawyers on both sides to stay within 10 minutes of the courthouse in case the panel has a question it will need to debate.
Schroeder later told reporters that he would give all parties about an hour of notice between the time jurors reach their verdicts and having the findings read out in court.
He also said he wouldn't set a time on when deliberations needed to end on any given day. During the trial, testimony usually ended at about 5 p.m. on most days.
Rittenhouse was 17 when he joined other armed people who said they were protecting private property in Kenosha during the Aug. 25, 2020, social justice protest following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man.
Rittenhouse shot and killed two men and severely wounded a third in confrontations that he claims were acts of self-defense.
Rittenhouse, now 18, is accused of intentional homicide in the slaying of Anthony Huber, 26, and reckless homicide in the death of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36.
He has also been charged with attempted intentional homicide in the shooting of Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, a paramedic from suburban Milwaukee. Grosskreutz, who had gone to the protest that night to provide medical aid, was carrying a Glock pistol when Rittenhouse shot him at close range.
Rittenhouse also faces two counts of recklessly endangering safety. He tried to shoot an unknown person, known in court as “jump kick man,” who tried to kick him in the face, and prosecutors said he could have wounded another man when he opened fire on Rosenbaum.
