A judge has ruled that the rifle Kyle Rittenhouse used to kill two people will be destroyed.

As reported earlier this month, the 19-year-old's legal team requested the release of his AR-15 firearm, so that it could be destroyed and no one can use it to "celebrate" the shootings, per Insider.

It comes after the teenager was found not guilty of first-degree intentional homicide - along with four other felony charges - after shooting two men dead during a 2020 Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Washington.

Rittenhouse's trial divided the nation, with some people viewing the teen as a patriotic hero, and others believing him to be a careless vigilante.

The rifle in question was seized by police after Rittenhouse - who was 17 at the time of the fatal riot - shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, as well as injuring Gaige Grosskreutz.

According to a court filing earlier this month, Rittenhouse requested the return of the rifle "to ensure that the firearm in question is properly destroyed."

On Friday, as ABC News reports, state prosecutors, the defense, and the individual who purchased the gun all agreed to allow the Kenosha Police Department and Kenosha Joint Services to destroy the rifle, as well as its accompanying scope and magazine.

Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger added that the rifle would not be released to anybody, so that it "will not be in anyone's possession."

The ruling was agreed upon by Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder.

Binger noted that the destruction of the weapon is likely to take place in April and will be recorded.

Milwaukee ABC affiliate WISN reports that, for now, the weapon will remain locked away at the Kenosha Police Department's secure evidence bureau.

On the November 30 episode of the conservative podcast The Charlie Kirk show, Rittenhouse claimed that the gun was being "destroyed."

"We don't want anything to do with that," he added.

Additionally, in a statement to the Associated Press, the teen's spokesperson, David Hancock, said: "At the end of the day, two people did lose their lives, period."

"That weapon was involved in that," Hancock added. "That weapon doesn't belong on a mantle. It doesn't belong in a museum. It belongs where Kyle wants it, and Kyle wants it destroyed."

Featured image credit: REUTERS / Alamy

Newly released footage shows the moment Kyle Rittenhouse's rifle was destroyed at a Wisconsin crime lab.

Back in August 2020, Rittenhouse - then 17 years old - used the rifle to shoot two people dead and injure a third during a Black Lives Matter protest in Kenosha, Washington.

During a skirmish, the teenager shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and injured Gaige Grosskreutz. The firearm used in the shootings - an AR-15 rifle - was purchased for Rittenhouse by Dominick Black, who was dating his sister at the time.

Rittenhouse's subsequent trial divided the nation, with some people viewing the teen as a patriotic hero, and others believing him to be a careless vigilante. In November, he was found not guilty of first-degree intentional homicide - along with four other felony charges.

Following the trial, Rittenhouse requested that the rifle be returned to him so that it could be destroyed. It was later ruled that the rifle would be destroyed by the proper authorities.

Now, footage shared by TMJ4 News shows the moment the rifle was fed to a shredder.

The Huffington Post reports that the destruction of the firearm took place last month on February 25.

The video shows the moment State Lab authorities unboxed the weapon, detailing its accompanying scope and magazine, and pointing out details such as the crime lab numbers that were used when the item was stored as evidence.

Once the final checks are completed, a member of the team then says: "The Rittenhouse rifle will be destroyed at the State Crime Laboratory on this 25th day of February 2022 by mechanical shredding."

The weapon and its parts are then fed to the shredder, as the camera captures its fragments being deposited into a box below.

Back in January, Rittenhouse posted a court filing requesting the return of the rifle "to ensure that the firearm in question is properly destroyed."

Eventually, state prosecutors, the defense, and the individual who purchased the gun all agreed to allow the Kenosha Police Department and Kenosha Joint Services to destroy the rifle.

Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger added that the rifle would not be released to anybody, so that it "will not be in anyone's possession." The ruling was agreed upon by Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder.

Rittenhouse had previously stated how he didn't "want anything to do" with the rifle following the trial, with the teen's spokesperson, David Hancock, telling the Associated Press: "At the end of the day, two people did lose their lives, period."

"That weapon was involved in that," Hancock added. "That weapon doesn't belong on a mantle. It doesn't belong in a museum. It belongs where Kyle wants it, and Kyle wants it destroyed."

Featured image credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy

Kyle Rittenhouse has decided to destroy the gun he used in the August 2020 shootings in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

On Tuesday, November 30, Rittenhouse appeared on the conservative podcast The Charlie Kirk Show and revealed that the AR-15 rifle he used when he shot dead two men and injured a third during a Black Lives Matter protest last year was being "destroyed right now."

"We don't want anything to do with that," he said.

On August 25, 2020, when Rittenhouse was just 17, he shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and injured Gaige Grosskreutz during BLM protests in Kenosha following the police shooting of a Black man.

Rittenhouse was charged with five felonies; first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety. He had denied all the charges and maintained he acted in self-defense.

The 18-year-old from Antioch, Illinois, who traveled 15 miles to "protect" the Kenosha community, was faced with potentially decades behind bars. He was ultimately acquitted of all charges on November 19 at his high-profile homicide trial.

Elsewhere in the podcast, Rittenhouse took aim at Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger who carried out a courtroom demonstration that entailed placing his finger on a gun's trigger. The teenager said the demonstration was not "Gun Safety 101."

"He was pointing the gun at the gallery, and I looked at my attorney," Rittenhouse said in reference to one of the attorneys on his defense team, Corey Chirafisi. "I said, 'Corey, that's Gun Safety 101.' Loaded or unloaded, treat a gun like it's loaded."

Rittenhouse also said on the podcast that he aspired to be a police officer when he was younger.

"Growing up, I wanted to be a police officer, to be able to help people when they're having bad days," he said.

Just two days after his acquittal, Rittenhouse did an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson in which he spoke out about his "support" for the Black Lives Matter movement.

Rittenhouse told the conservative TV personality: "This case has nothing to do with race. It had nothing to do with race, had to do with the right to self-defense."

He then insisted: "I'm not a racist person, I support the BLM movement and peacefully demonstrating."

Featured image credit: REUTERS / Alamy

Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot dead two people more than two years ago, has started a brand new YouTube channel about guns.

The teenager was acquitted on all counts in his November 2021 homicide trial after he fatally shot two men and injured a third at a Black Lives Matter rally in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

On August 25, 2020, Rittenhouse, then just 17, traveled 20 miles from his home to attend a protest spawned by the police shooting of a 29-year-old Black man named Jacob Blake.

Armed with an AR-15 style rifle, he shot dead 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum and 26-year-old Anthony Huber - and injured 27-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz. Following the deadly incident, he faced five felony charges, including first-degree reckless homicide and first-degree intentional homicide.  Rittenhouse was ultimately found not guilty on all counts on November 19, 2021.

The young man started a YouTube channel over the weekend - nearly a year after he was cleared. At the time of writing, he has accumulated more than 38,000 subscribers.

“Hello! I am super excited to announce I will be starting a Youtube channel!” the gun rights activist wrote in the description that accompanied his first video - a 35-second clip in which he teased his future gun-related content.

“I look forward to creating content about guns and talking about the 2nd amendment with all of you!” he added.

The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution protects the right to keep and bear arms.

“You might remember me as the kid who defended himself with a firearm during the 2020 riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin,” he wrote in his channel's bio. “Join me in my journey to learn everything I can about new and vintage firearms and help to defend the Second Amendment.”

In his first video, Rittenhouse appears alongside YouTuber and fellow gun enthusiast Brandon Herrera, also known by his nickname, the AK Guy.

“Thank you guys for continuing to support me, and I’ll see you guys in the videos to come,” he concluded the clip, in which he dons a T-shirt with an image of a rifle and the phrase “2nd that.”

Rittenhouse has attracted quite the fanbase, with a number of commenters expressing their excitement about his future content.

One person wrote alongside a cowboy emoji: "Great to see you! Looking forward to seeing your content and growth on here. We're all behind you!"

Another penned: "YESSSS! Love you, Kyle and I am so excited to see where this channel takes you!"

A third gushed: "100% support. Very excited to see new content!"

Featured image credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy

Kyle Rittenhouse's attorney says the teen doesn't think he did anything legally wrong when he fatally shot two people and injured a third, but that "he wishes he didn't have to do it."

On Friday, November 19, a 12-person jury consisting of seven women and five men found the teen not guilty on all counts after three days of deliberation.

Rittenhouse, 18, of Antioch, Illinois, shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and injured Gaige Grosskreutz on August 25, 2020, with an AR-15 rifle, during protests which took place in Kenosha, Wisconsin, after the police shooting of Jacob Blake.

The teenager, who was 17 at the time of the shooting, had been charged with five felonies; first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety. Per BBC News, Rittenhouse had denied all the charges and maintained he acted in self-defense.

His homicide trial started on November 1 and had seen testimonies from dozens of witnesses and footage taken of the night the then-17-year-old opened fire. Jurors were even played a graphic video of Rosenbaum lying still, unable to breathe after he was shot four times.

Rittenhouse's defense argued that the then-17-year-old had feared for his life last August. Prosecutors countered this stating that the teenager was out looking for trouble. "You cannot claim self-defense against a danger that you create," prosecutors said.

Attorney Mark Richards spoke with CNN in an interview on Friday, November 19, after his 18-year-old client, was found not guilty on all charges in his homicide trial.

CNN's Chris Cuomo asked Richards if Rittenhouse "thinks he did anything wrong," to which the lawyer responded: "Kyle said: 'If I had to do it all over again and I had any idea something like this would happen. I wouldn't do it.'"

He added: "I want to be clear that is not regret for what he did that night under those circumstances.

"Hindsight is always 20/20, if not better, and he didn't want to kill anybody and he was left with a terrible choice and he exercised that choice, which was found to be lawful."

Cuomo asked Richards again: "Does he think he did anything wrong?"

"Legally, No," Richards replied. "Morally?" Cuomo followed up.

"He wishes he didn't have to do it," Richards said. "This case as you said has been so political. So yes, or no. The narrative that came out was not the truth. At trial, it did come out."

Richards said Rittenhouse had ties to the Kenosha neighborhood he was in and that he was there to help people. He said the prosecution "wanted to portray him as a liar and fireman wanna-be" in order to get a conviction.

Featured image credit: REUTERS / Alamy