KENOSHA, Wisc. — Richie McGinniss, the chief video editor for the Daily Caller, testified on the third day of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial about what he saw on the night of August 25. McGinniss was the man behind Joesph Rosenbaum when Rittenhouse shot Rosenbaum four times. McGinniss took off his shirt to try to stop the bleeding and carried Rosenbaum to a vehicle so Rosenbaum could be transported to the hospital across the street.
Due to McGinniss' heavy presence in the first half of the shootings, he is a key witness in the trial.
Being questioned by Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger, McGinniss said Rosenbaum was chasing Rittenhouse, further undercutting Binger's opening argument, and Rosenbaum was in fact lunging for Rittenhouse's AR-15 when Rittenhouse's avenues of escape were cut off in the car lot and a handgun was fired.
Binger tried to nail down McGinniss by pointing out he had said during an interview with Fox News host Tucker Carlson Rosenbaum was falling down before Rittenhouse shot him with his rifle. McGinniss said lunging was a more applicable term and saying falling down was not a contradiction.
"Because [Rosenbaum] lunged and then the shot was fired as he was lunging. It was like, I guess, perhaps it was the shots that caused him to then, rather than stopping himself, just fall flat," McGinniss said.
"That's not what you said," Binger replied and again played the clip of McGinniss saying falling down during the Carlson interview.
"I don't see why that's inconsistent with what I'm saying right now. He was lunging, falling, I would use those as synonymous terms in this situation because, basically, he threw his momentum towards the weapon and when the weapon wasn't there, his momentum was continuing and that's the point at which [Rittenhouse] fired," McGinniss said.
McGinnis continually corrected the word “falling” usage as Binger was explicitly trying to imply that Kyle Rittenhouse shot a stumbling defenseless man (Rosenbaum). McGinnis used the word “lunging” over and over to describe Rosenbaum lunging for Rittenhouse. pic.twitter.com/jArG3tjdcl
— John Curtis (@Johnmcurtis) November 4, 2021
Before ending his second line of questioning, Binger pressed McGinniss to get him to admit he did not know 100% what Rosenbaum was thinking when he chased after Rittenhouse and tried to reach for the rifle. McGinniss said he knows for a fact Rosenbaum said “f*ck you” and reached for the front portion of the AR-15.
Note: McGinniss is a friend of mine and we have covered riots together, including the riots in Kenosha.