Gaige Grosskreutz, the man who was shot by Kyle Rittenhouse in self-defense when he attempted to kill Rittenhouse, is now suing Rittenhouse and several Wisconsin officials who were part of the original trial.
According to the Daily Caller, the far-left activist is suing for “emotional distress, humiliation, loss of enjoyment of life, and other pain and suffering on all claims.” Grosskreutz was the third and final person shot by Rittenhouse on the night of August 25th, 2020, as Black Lives Matter, Antifa, and other far-left terror groups were burning down the city of Kenosha during that summer’s nationwide race riots. Grosskreutz was the only one shot by Rittenhouse who survived, while the other two – convicted domestic abuser Anthony Huber and convicted sex offender Joseph Rosenbaum – died of their injuries.
Grosskreutz approached Rittenhouse, who at the time was sitting on the ground after having fended off other attacks. Grosskreutz withdrew a pistol and raised it towards Rittenhouse, at which point Rittenhouse fired another shot from his rifle, striking Grosskreutz’s arm and disabling him. Grosskreutz later admitted during the subsequent criminal trial that he intended to shoot Rittenhouse, which contributed to the teenager’s eventual acquittal on the grounds of self-defense.
In his new lawsuit, Grosskreutz claimed that local law enforcement should have viewed Rittenhouse as “a threat to public safety.”
“Astonishingly, the Kenosha Police Department, Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department, their supervising officials and police officers, and law enforcement officers from surrounding communities did not treat Defendant Rittenhouse or any of the other armed individuals patrolling the streets as a threat to the safety of themselves or the citizens they were sworn to protect,” the lawsuit reads in part. “Instead, the law enforcement Defendants deputized these armed individuals, conspired with them, and ratified their actions by letting them patrol the streets, armed with deadly weapons, to mete out justice as they saw fit.”
In response, Rittenhouse tweeted that the lawsuit “is an attempt to drown anyone who legally and justifiably defends there [sic] lives from attackers in a mountain of legal debt.”
“We can not let them win,” Rittenhouse added. “If they can come after me they will come after you.”
Rittenhouse, who was 17 years old and a resident of Illinois at the time, crossed into neighboring Wisconsin with several friends, all of whom were armed, to help defend several small businesses in Kenosha that night, as the business owners feared that rioters would target them for destruction. Such acts of vigilantism became more widespread in 2020, as police forces increasingly refused to crack down on rioters and looters, often on the orders of Democratic governors, mayors, and district attorneys.