 |
Kyle Rittenhouse, third from left, stands with his legal team, from left, Mark Richards, Corey Chirafisi and Natalie Wisco as the jury leaves the room for the day at the Kenosha County Courthouse on November 5, 2021 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse is accused of shooting three demonstrators, killing two of them, during a night of unrest that erupted in Kenosha after a police officer shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back while being arrested in August 2020. Rittenhouse, from Antioch, Illinois, was 17 at the time of the shooting and armed with an assault rifle. He… Show more Sean Krajacic/The Kenosha News /Pool |
KENOSHA - Two brothers whose family owns three car lots downtown told jurors in Kyle Rittenhouse's homicide trial they never asked his group of armed men to protect their businesses or gave them permission to do so.
Some from that group have previously testified a friend of a friend of Rittenhouse's who used to work at Car Source had offered to help, and Anmol "Sam" Khindri accepted, and gave keys to get inside the repair shop and a ladder to get on the roof.
Khindri told jurors Friday he had no such conversations, nor did he offer keys to the shop. He recalled that early on Aug 25, 2020, Rittenhouse was among dozens of people who spoke to him with sympathy and encouragement after the family's main car lot had been burned on the first night of unrest.
More:Kenosha officer says scene resembled a 'war zone' as Kyle Rittenhouse tried to surrender
Salil Khindri, his brother, also testified. He said he was working with a technician at the family's Car Source lot at 63rd Street and Sheridan Road when Rittenhouse's group of friends and some older men with rifles were mustering at the lot.
This would be where Rittenhouse later killed Joseph Rosenbaum.
Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger asked, "So, all these guys are on your family's property and you don't ask them to leave?"
"Not when they're dressed like that," he said. He even posed for a picture with the group.
More:Kyle Rittenhouse defense questions whether FBI is withholding crucial aerial surveillance video
Defense attorney Corey Chirafisi suggested Anmol Khindri might be trying to avoid civil liability that might flow from allowing armed men on the family property, where someone was killed.
Khindri denied any such concern.
He seemed unclear and evasive to several more questions from Chirafisi about the extent of the business losses, whether it was insured or if the family had hired a lawyer to deal with the insurance company.
Khindri also seemed to be confused about who he might have seen where and when on Aug. 25th, but repeatedly maintained he made no efforts to obtain the protection of Rittenhouse's group.
"So, were you just willing to let your property be damaged on the 25th? You just resigned yourself to it?"
Khindri said he didn't know.
More:Witness says he stood just 15 feet away when Kyle Rittenhouse fatally shot first person
Earlier Friday, Kariann Swart, Rosenbaum's fiancee, testified he had returned to the motel where the couple had been living late in the afternoon of Aug. 25, after a hospital stay in Milwaukee. She said he took medications to control bipolar condition.
They talked into the evening, she said, before he left on foot around 9:30 p.m. She said she told him not to go downtown because of the unrest and curfew.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment