Judge OKs agreement to destroy gun used by Kyle Rittenhouse

From TMJ4:

Photo by: Adam Rogan/The Journal Times via AP, File

FILE - In this Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, file photo, Kyle Rittenhouse carries a weapon as he walks along Sheridan Road in Kenosha, Wis., during a night of unrest following the weekend police shooting of Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse's defense team has called him a member of a militia. Rittenhouse is accused of killing two people and seriously wounding a third.

By: Stephanie Haines , Associated Press

Posted at 5:04 AM, Jan 28, 2022

 

and last updated 6:07 PM, Jan 28, 2022

The gun Kyle Rittenhouse used in the shootings back in August 2020 will be destroyed.

Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder approved an agreement to destroy the gun in a hearing Friday.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said the Kenosha Police Department and other authorities will destroy the firearm, scope and magazine at the Wisconsin State Crime Lab around the end of April. It will be recorded.

Rittenhouse's defense attorney Mark Richards said "lots of people" have asked about buying the gun, and he said Rittenhouse doesn't want that.

He added investigators returned all of Rittenhouse's clothes they collected as evidence the night of the shootings.

"He didn't want anything out there going to other parties and be sold," Richards said.

Sean Krajacic/AP

FILE - Kenosha Police Department Detective Martin Howard, right, picks up the weapon Kyle Rittenhouse used on Aug. 25, 2020, during Rittenhouse's trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., on Nov. 8, 2021. A Wisconsin judge on Friday, Jan. 28, 2022, approved an agreement by lawyers to destroy the assault-style rifle that Rittenhouse used to shoot three people during a 2020 street protest. (Sean Krajacic/The Kenosha News Pool Photo via AP)

Attorneys also discussed who should get the $2 million bond money. Rittenhouse's former attorney, John Pierce, posted it back in November 2020.

"The bond money came from Fight Back to John Pierce," Richards said. "It was never John Pierce's money. It went into his trust account, not his business account."

An attorney representing a hedge fund who says it posted some of the bail money appeared in court Friday in what appeared to be an attempt to try to get some of the money back. Judge Schroeder denied that.

TMJ4 requested comment from Pierce and the hedge fund Friday afternoon.

Instead, Judge Schroeder approved an agreement between Richards and an attorney for the Fight Back Foundation, which was part of the fundraising effort for Rittenhouse's bail.

"The money is going to the people who divided up, Fight Back, Kyle and Ricky Schroeder, who posted some of it," Richards said.

TMJ4 legal analyst Jonathan Lavoy said he thinks some of that money could go towards paying off the costs of the trial.

"Experts, investigators, other types of expenses that might have been created during this very costly litigation," Lavoy said.

Richards said Rittenhouse is, "doing well, he's looking forward to getting back into school, that's all set up, and he's going to get on with his life."

See more: https://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/kyle-rittenhouse-heads-to-court-to-get-gun-used-in-shootings