Defense attorney Lin Wood said Thursday he is representing Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old charged in deadly shootings during riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The promise: In a series of tweets, Wood said he’d been in contact with Rittenhouse’s family and vowed to give the Illinois teen “excellent representation.”
Wood said he’d be working with Pierce Bainbridge, a law firm that has represented President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and former Trump adviser Carter Page in the past.
- “We owe him a legal defense,” Wood tweeted, after thanking “freedom loving Americans” for their support of Rittenhouse, who has become a cause célèbre among many on the right who feel he acted in self-defense.
- Wood announced Rittenhouse’s legal team has formed a non-profit, #FightBack Foundation, Inc., to fund the accused’s defense.
- “Many others will need your help in coming days. Stay strong. Continue to speak truth. Continue to demand justice under our Constitution. Continue to be fearless,” he tweeted.
Political commentator Michelle Malkin has also teamed up with Wood to aid Rittenhouse’s defense.
The legal grim reaper: Wood, who was once described by former CBS anchor Dan Rather as “the attorney for the damned,” helped Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann sue CNN, The Washington Post and other media outlets for defamation last year.
Rittenhouse is accused of killing two people and wounding one other at a riot in Kenosha on Tuesday night.
- He is charged with multiple counts, including first-degree intentional homicide, reckless homicide and possession of a dangerous weapon.
- John Pierce, managing partner at Pierce Bainbridge, is expected to appear at an Illinois circuit court with Rittenhouse on Friday for an extradition hearing.
