The family of Anthony Huber, one of the men Kyle Rittenhouse is accused of fatally shooting during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last year, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday claiming police failed to intervene and conspired with white militia members.
Why it matters: The lawsuit filed by Huber’s parents is the first major suit against the city, police and county following the protests last August sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
- Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, was allegedly part of an armed group who said they were protecting private property from violent protesters. Rittenhouse maintains he fired in self-defense. Prosecutors have charged him on six counts.
The big picture: The federal lawsuit seeks unspecified damages against Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth; Daniel Miskinis, the former City of Kenosha police chief; Eric Larsen, the city’s acting police chief; and unnamed officers and deputies.
- The lawsuit alleges that the defendants “deputized these armed individuals, conspired with them, and ratified their actions by letting them patrol the streets armed with deadly weapons to mete out justice as they saw fit. ”
- The lawsuit also alleges that the officers’ decision to treat demonstrators and militia members differently was motivated by racial discrimination.
- “Defendants did nothing to stop Rittenhouse’s illegal conduct,” the lawsuit states. “They did not arrest him for illegally carrying a gun. They did not disarm him. They did not limit his movement in any way. They did not question him. They did not stop him from shooting individuals after he started. They did not arrest him, detain him, or question him even after he had killed two people.”Â
