Men Shot by Kyle Rittenhouse Can't Be Called 'Victims': Judge

Kyle Rittenhouse's trial starts Monday, and you won't hear the two men he fatally shot during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, referred to as "victims." The judge in the case has a standard policy barring people from being called "victims" until an actual conviction, USA Today reports, and he said that using the term in this case would be "loaded," per the Washington Post. However, when prosecutors asked that defense attorneys be prohibited from referring to the two men as "looters, rioters, arsonists or any other pejorative term," the judge declined to make such an order.

"Let the evidence show what it shows," was all he said. Prosecutors argued the terms should not be used unless there's specific evidence Joseph Rosenbaum or Anthony Huber engaged in those activities. Rittenhouse, who was 17 when the shootings took place last year, has pleaded not guilty to homicide in both of their deaths as well as not guilty to attempted homicide of Gaige Grosskreutz, who was shot and wounded. His lawyers are expected to argue he acted in self-defense amid protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Columnist Will Bunch runs down the judge's controversial history in a Twitter thread (that ultimately calls for his removal) here. (More Kyle Rittenhouse stories.)