A wrongful death lawsuit filed by the father of a man shot and killed by Kyle Rittenhouse during a night of tumultuous protests in 2020 may proceed, a federal in Wisconsin ruled Wednesday.
The father of Anthony Huber – one of two men Rittenhouse killed – filed the lawsuit in 2021. The lawsuit, which names Rittenhouse, police officers and others ad defendants, accuses officers of allowing for a dangerous situation that violated his son's constitutional rights and resulted in his death.
Anthony Huber's father, John Huber, also alleged that Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the shootings, conspired with law enforcement to cause harm to protestors. John Huber is seeking unspecified damages from city officials, officers and Rittenhouse.
U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman has dismissed motions filed by Rittenhouse and the government defendants seeking to dismiss the lawsuit.
TEXAS BREWERY CANCEL ANTI-CENSORSHIP RALLY FEATURING KYLE RITTENHOUSE: ‘DOESN’T REFLECT OUR VALUES'
In allowing the case against Rittenhouse and the others to proceed, the judge said that Huber's death "could plausibly be regarded as having been proximately caused by the actions of the governmental defendants."
Rittenhouse was charged with homicide, attempted homicide and reckless endangering for killing Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum and wounding a third person with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle in the summer of 2020 during a tumultuous night of protests over the shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, by a white Kenosha police officer.
Rittenhouse had gone to Kenosha from his home in nearby Antioch, Illinois, after businesses were ransacked and burned in the nights that followed Blake's shooting. He joined other armed civilians on the streets, carrying a weapon that authorities said was illegally purchased for him because he was underage.
Rittenhouse first killed Rosenbaum, 36, in the parking lot of an auto dealership and as Rittenhouse ran from the scene he stumbled and fell. Anthony Huber, 26, struck Rittenhouse with his skateboard and tried to disarm him. Rittenhouse fell to the ground and shot Anthony Huber to death and wounded demonstrator Gaige Grosskreutz, 27.
Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges in November 2021 after testifying he acted in self-defense.
Wednesday’s case is one of several ongoing civil lawsuits filed in the wake of the shootings. Grosskreutz last year filed a similar lawsuit against Rittenhouse.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
