The Wisconsin judge presiding over the murder trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, paused proceedings on Wednesday to complain about how the media is covering the case and his rulings.
According to the Daily Beast, Kenosha County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Schroeder ranted about media coverage during a discussion about whether to play a video of last summer’s protest in Kenosha in which Rittenhouse and others around him were referred to as “militia members.”
During the rant, the judge defended his handling of a 2008 murder trial where a man, Mark Jensen, was accused of poisoning and smothering his wife. Schroeder said even though media reports say he “messed up” he “had it 100% correct in the first place.”
Though Jensen was convicted, the appellate courts and the state Supreme Court ruled that Schroeder wrongly admitted as evidence a letter Jensen’s wife gave a neighbor saying if anything happened to her Jensen would be responsible. A new trial is set for 2022, according to the Associated Press.
Shroeder also blasted CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin for commenting on the case without knowing the law in Wisconsin.
This is not the first time Schroeder has attacked the media. During jury selection he warned prospective jurors of “deliberately bias” media coverage.
“This case has become very political,” he said according to the AP. “It was involved in the politics of the last election year. … You could go out now and read things from all across the political spectrum about this case, most of which is written by people who know nothing. I don’t mean that that they are know-nothings. I mean that they don’t know what you’re going to know: those of you who are selected for this jury, who are going to hear for yourselves the real evidence in this case.”
“Some of it that is deliberately biased that’s out there, and sometimes from respectable media outlets,” he added.
Schroeder previously made headlines when he banned the use of the word “victims” when referring to the two men who lost their lives that day. He would however allow the use of the words “rioters,” “looters” or “arsonists,” if Rittenhouse’s defense attorneys can provide the evidence that the men had engaged in those acts.
Rittenhouse is facing seven counts including reckless homicide and attempted homicide in the first degree in connection with his actions on Aug. 25, 2020, during the protests that followed the shooting of unarmed black man Jacob Blake. Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber were both killed, and Gaige Grosskreutz was injured.
Rittenhouse claimed he acted in self defense.
