BLM Protester Admits He Shot Before Kyle Rittenhouse Did — Faces Charges

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A man who admitted to firing gunshots before Kyle Rittenhouse shot three protesters during riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August has been charged.

The crime: Joshua Ziminski, 35, faces one count of disorderly conduct and use of a dangerous weapon, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Fox News.

  • Ziminski acknowledged firing a “warning shot” on the night of Aug. 25 before Rittenhouse, 17, allegedly shot three other protesters, killing two and wounding the other.
  • Kenosha Police Department detectives unearthed videos of Ziminski holding a handgun and firing into the air.
  • “Detective Howard observed a muzzle flash emit from the handgun, and heard a gunshot at the same time,” the complaint says. “In another video, the defendant is clearly seen at that same location. The defendant is seen walking in the same area, holding his right arm upwards, and firing off one shot from his handgun.”

Why it matters: Rittenhouse, a police enthusiast and Trump supporter from Antioch, Illinois, was arrested on first-degree murder charges and is fighting extradition to Wisconsin.

  • His legal team has argued that Ziminski’s gunshots made their client fear for his life and the subsequent shootings were in self-defense.
  • “The evidence is overwhelming,” Lin Wood, one of Rittenhouse’s attorneys, told Fox News on Tuesday. “There’s not one iota of evidence that he did anything except defend himself.”

Footage from the deadly night of unrest in Kenosha — which was part of Black Lives Matter activism following the shooting of James Blake — appears to show Rittenhouse being pursued by the men he shot.

Rittenhouse is due back in Kenosha County Court on Dec. 4 for a pre-trial conference.

By We'll Do It Live