A defining image: Rittenhouse nearly crumbles out of picture

Kyle Rittenhouse, fighting back sobs, nearly collapsed out of the television camera's sight as the last of five ‘not guilty’ verdicts was read in a Wisconsin courtroom

NEW YORK -- As the last of five “not guilty” verdicts were read aloud on Friday, Kyle Rittenhouse shook with sobs and collapsed, nearly falling out of sight of the television camera fixed on him in a Wisconsin courtroom.

It was instantly the defining image of the 18-year-old's murder trial, which became such a subject of passionate debate about guns and justice that major broadcast and cable news networks set aside regular programming to reveal the jury's decision.

There was no shortage of strong opinions in the verdict's wake.

“I knew this case was big,” Rittenhouse's lawyer, Mark Richards, said after the trial during a news conference carried live by the cable networks. “I never knew it was going to be this big.”