The man who allegedly gave Kyle Rittenhouse the assault rifle he used to fatally shoot two people and injure a third during a protest in Kenosha, Wisc., has been brought up on felony charges.
The Washington Post reports that 19-year-old Dominick David Black is accused of giving Rittenhouse the Smith & Wesson M&P-15 rifle that he wielded on August 25 in Kenosha. Black made his first court appearance on Monday in Kenosha County Circuit Court and is facing two felony counts of intentionally selling a gun to a minor.
From the Post:
Authorities say Black bought the rifle in April for Rittenhouse, who then allegedly used the gun on Aug. 25 to shoot and kill Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and to seriously injure Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, during civil unrest sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black Kenosha resident.
Black’s attorney, Robert Keller, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that his client had no criminal history, but otherwise did not comment on the charges against the teen. Keller did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Tuesday.
According to police records filed in the criminal cases, Black purchased the gun in Ladysmith, Wis., using Rittenhouse’s money earlier this year and intended it to be used during hunting trips. He stored the gun at his stepfather’s home in Kenosha.
The Journal Sentinel reports that Black’s father kept the gun in a locked safe but he told police he removed his guns from that safe and brought them into the house as the protests over Blake’s shooting turned violent.
According to the Post, Black allegedly asked Rittenhouse if he wanted to come to Kenosha from his home in Antioch, Ill., to join him in protecting local businesses from rioters. The Journal Sentinel reports that Rittenhouse never had possession of the rifle while he was in Illinois, according to prosecutors.
From the Journal Sentinel:
Black was also in Kenosha, armed with his own rifle, on the night of Aug. 25, but told investigators he was on the roof of an auto repair shop, that he and Rittenhouse said they were protecting, and did not see the shootings for which Rittenhouse now faces homicide and attempted homicide charges.
Black appeared to know it was illegal to give the rifle to his underage friend. He recalled telling Rittenhouse, “In all reality, you are not supposed to have that gun. That gun was in my name.”
The Post also reports that Black drove Rittenhouse back to Antioch after the shootings. According to the Associated Press, police investigating the shootings first met Black at the Rittenhouse family’s apartment in Antioch where he told them he had the rifle Rittenhouse used in the trunk of his car. Black admitted to police that he knew Rittenhouse was underage but he said Rittenhouse “would have thrown a fit” if he wasn’t given the rifle. Police recovered Rittenhouse’s rifle, as well as the one Black was carrying, that night, AP reports.
During the Monday hearing, Black appeared virtually from the Kenosha County Jail, and Court Commissioner Loren Keating set bail at $2,500 and ordered Black to have no contact with Rittenhouse or Grosskreutz. A preliminary hearing is set for Nov. 19.