A juror has been dismissed from the Kyle Rittenhouse trial after he made a racist joke about Jacob Blake, the man who was shot by Kenosha police last August.
According to CBS Chicago, the middle-aged white man made the joke to a courtroom deputy on the third day of trial. “Why did it take seven shots to shoot Jacob Blake?” the juror asked the deputy. He then said, “Because they ran out of bullets.”
Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger notified Judge Bruce Schroeder of the juror’s joke, saying it was in “poor taste and showed racial bias,” per CBS.
Prior to Thursday’s testimony, Schroeder asked the juror to repeat the joke but he declined. The juror reportedly uses a scooter to move around and seemed to be “ill-at-ease” when speaking with the judge, saying, “It had nothing to do with the case.”
Schroeder said that preserving the public’s confidence in this case is vital and dismissed the juror. There are now 19 people serving on the jury, 12 of whom are primary jurors and seven who are alternates.
Rittenhouse is currently on trial for fatally shooting two people and injuring a third during civil unrest in Kenosha Wisconsin. Demonstrators gathered to protest the police shooting of Blake, who was shot by police seven times on Aug. 23, 2020, and is now paralyzed.
Rittenhouse allegedly traveled to Kenosha to protect businesses during the protests, where he was seen walking through the downtown area carrying an assault-style rifle. He opened fire during the third night of protests, killing Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz.
His attorney claims that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense.
