Illinois teenager Kyle Rittenhouse, who is accused of killing two protesters in Wisconsin during a period of civil unrest, has received thousands of dollars in donations for his legal defense of public officials and police officers, according to media reports.
The Transparency Group Distributed Denial of Secrets shared the details of some donors trying to hide their identities using an anonymous feature on GiveSendGo, a Christian crowdfunding site, following a data breach, reports The Guardian.
Some donors are associated with e-mail addresses that are redirected to the e-mail of the police and public works, it reads.
Rittenhouse, 18, pleaded not guilty earlier this year to several counts of murder in connection with the murders of Anthony Huber, 26, and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and the shooting of 22-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz during riots in Kenosha, Wis. murders took place days after the August 23 police shooting at Jacob Blake by Kenosha officer Rusten Sheskey.
Kyle Rittenhouse appears in an extradition hearing in October 2020 in Lake County, Waukegan, Illinois Kyle Rittenhouse, accused of killing two protesters days after Jacob Blake was shot by Kenosha, Wisconsin police. (AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh, Pool)
((AP Photo / Nam Y. Huh, Pool))
Sheskey was not charged with the shooting and returned with administrative leave.
Blake was left paralyzed after the shooting, which led to several nights of protests and riots in the city. Rittenhouse maintains that he traveled to the area to protect businesses and provide first aid, and that he fired in self-defense.
According to the newspaper, a fundraiser for Rittenhouse, which described itself as a legitimate defense campaign, raised nearly $ 587,000 from August 27, 2020 to January 7. One $ 25 donation made on September 3 was made anonymously but associated with the email address for a sergeant at the Norfolk Police Department in Virginia.
“God bless. Thank you for your courage. Keep your head up. You did nothing wrong,” read the message that accompanied the donation. “Every police officer supports you. Do not be discouraged by actions of the political class of law enforcement leadership.”
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A Rittenhouse lawyer did not immediately return messages from Fox News.
Another donation comes from an email address associated with Keith Silvers, an employee of the city of Huntsville, Ala., And Michael Crosley, an engineer at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, who is charged with maintaining the American nuclear weapons.
A Livermore Laboratory spokesman told The Guardian that Crosley had made an “honest mistake” and never intended to use his work email.
Another fundraiser on the site was listed in support of Sheskey, which reportedly received donations from several Wisconsin police officers. More than $ 5,000 donations came from Kenosha police officers under badges instead of names, the newspaper reported. Houston officials also gave money, the newspaper said.
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Green Bay Police Officer Andrew Smith said in an email to the newspaper that his department “does not take a stand on the use of other institutions of violence” but is investigating the matter.
Rittenhouse remains out of bail. He is expected to be tried in November.