The family of Anthony Huber, one of the two men fatally shot during a police brutality protest last summer, has filed a federal civil lawsuit against the local Kenosha law enforcement.
According to the Associated Press, the family accuses the Kenosha Police Department and the Kenosha County Sheriff’s office of facilitating shooter Kyle Rittenhouse’s attacks.
On August 25, it was reported that Huber was shot and killed by Rittenhouse at a demonstration for Jacob Blake, an unarmed Black man who was shot in the back by police responding to a domestic disturbance call. Blake was left partially paralyzed.
From AP:
Rittenhouse, who is white, was 17 at the time and traveled from his home in Antioch, Illinois, and joined other armed individuals in Kenosha who answered a call from local militia to protect businesses from protesters. The protests turned chaotic that night.
According to prosecutors, Rittenhouse opened fire on Huber, 26, and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, killing them. Gaige Grosskreutz was also shot, but survived his injuries. The three men are white.
Rosenbaum was shot in the parking lot of an auto dealership and as Rittenhouse ran from the scene he stumbled and fell. Huber was shot in the chest as he tried to disarm Rittenhouse by wrestling his rifle away.
According to CBS News, Anand Swaminathan, the Huber family attorney, said that officers allowed Rittenhouse to walk away from the scene scott free, “After he had killed and maimed multiple individuals, Kyle Rittenhouse walked up to a dozen Kenosha police officers, assault rifle in hand, with crowds yelling that he had just killed innocent people. What did the police do? They spoke to him and let him walk away.” In the suit, they’re also accused of inviting Rittenhouse and other pro-police militia members to walk around armed and to patrol the demonstration as they saw fit.
From CBS:
“The police are supposed to serve and protect,” John Huber said in a statement, “but that’s not what the Kenosha police did. They walked away from their duties and turned over the streets of Kenosha to Kyle Rittenhouse and other armed vigilantes. If they had done their job, my son would still be alive today.”
The lawsuit further claims Kenosha police treated demonstrators and militia members differently in what amounted to racial discrimination and retaliation for protests.
Kyle Rittenhouse is currently awaiting trial and is facing multiple charges including homicide and unlawful possession of a firearm. Both law enforcement agencies have not yet responded to the lawsuit.