Police have arrested a suspect in the killing of two protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Tuesday night.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse of a nearby Illinois town was arrested Wednesday and will be charged with first degree intentional homicide. Video captured someone holding a long gun and shooting at protesters in Kenosha, killing two people. The gunman was also seen on video raising his arms and walking toward police vehicles, but they drove past him, per the Journal Sentinel.
Protests have gone on for three days in Kenosha, and have devolved into some fires and violence at night, after police shot Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man. Blake was walking to his car where his children were sitting inside, and witnesses say he had just broken up a verbal fight. Blake survived, but is now paralyzed from the waist down, at least temporarily, his father said.
Armed people purporting to be a "militia" have come to downtown Kenosha over the past few days, writing online that they were trying to "defend" the city, per the Journal Sentinel. Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said he wasn't sure if Rittenhouse was part of one of these groups.
On Wednesday, President Trump announced he would send federal law enforcement and more National Guard members to Kenosha, joining an already militarized police force and the National Guard members Gov. Tony Evers (D-Wisc.) had deployed to the city. Kathryn Krawczyk
Update 3:30 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to specify that Rittenhouse has been charged with homicide, not murder.