A jury is expected to deliver a verdict on charges against Kyle Rittenhouse imminently. Watch a live stream here:
ORIGINAL STORY: A Wisconsin judge announced on Thursday that MSNBC is barred from sitting in on the Kyle Rittenhouse trial after one of their reporters was allegedly caught following a bus of jurors — who are currently deliberating the high-profile homicide case.
Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder said he received a report from the Kenosha Police Department about the incident, which reportedly occurred Wednesday evening. Schroeder claimed a man who identified himself as James Jim Morrison, a producer for NBC News and MSNBC, had run a red light while following a bus containing the unidentified jurors.
“The jury in this case is being transported from a different location in a bus with windows covered, so that they don’t have to look at any…aren’t exposed any signs by one side or another,” the judge explained. “That’s been done every day and then they’re brought here to this building.”
Schroeder also alleged that Morrison told police that he was “under the supervision of someone named Irene Byon in New York for MSNBC.” Morrison, who was ticketed for a traffic violation, reportedly also told officers that Byon directed him to follow the bus.
“I have instructed that no one from MSNBC News will be permitted in this building for the duration of this trial,” Schroeder said, noting that Wednesday’s incident remains under investigation.
Judge: "A person who identified as James Jim Morrison and claimed that he was a producer with NBC News, MSNBC under the supervision of someone named Irene Byon" was pulled over for following the bus of Kyle Rittenhouse jurors last night.
Judge bans MSNBC from courthouse pic.twitter.com/PQ6RPCdDtz
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) November 18, 2021
Rittenhouse, 18, is charged with reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide, and attempted first-degree intentional homicide, for the August 2020 shooting that killed Joesph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and injured a third man. At the time, demonstrators were in Kenosha protesting the officer-related shooting of Jacob Blake, who was paralyzed after being shot seven times in the back.
Rittenhouse, who is from Illinois, was accused of using an illegally-obtained AR-15-style weapon to carry out last year’s shooting in Wisconsin. He claimed while at the protest, he was hit in the head and neck with a baseball bat and skateboard. While medics reportedly observed superficial scratches on his arm, they did not see any bruising or cuts.
Rittenhouse’s friend, Dominick Black, 19, allegedly asked Rittenhouse to join him in protecting a Car Source business during the protest. However, multiple reports indicated that the owner of the Car Source never asked the pair to guard his business.
Black was arrested last November for allegedly buying the gun Rittenhouse used in the deadly shooting. Black allegedly used Rittenhouse’s money to make the purchase in Ladysmith, Wisconsin, but the weapon was registered to Black’s name.
After the shooting, Black allegedly drove Rittenhouse back to Antioch, Illinois, where Rittenhouse was arrested days later.
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[Featured image: Sean Krajacic/The Kenosha News via AP, Pool]
