A judge said the people shot by Kyle Rittenhouse can be called "rioters," "looters" and "arsonists" at trial – but not "victims." Here's why.
CBSN
A Wisconsin judge presiding over the upcoming trial of Kyle Rittenhouse has ruled that prosecutors cannot refer to the three people shot by the teenager last summer as "victims," but the defense may refer to them as "arsonists," "looters," or "rioters," if in fact, they participated in those activities.
The decision came down Monday at a pretrial conference where the parties debated several issues ahead of next week's trial, including permissible terminology, witness accounts and evidence. Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder decided not to bar the defense team from using such language to describe those who were shot by Rittenhouse if the defense can produce evidence showing that they were participating in such activities.
Prosecutor Thomas Binger reportedly called the decision by Judge Bruce Schroeder "a double standard."
Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.