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Kyle Rittenhouse wants his rifle returned so it can be destroyed, court documents say

Attorneys for Kyle Rittenhouse have filed a motion in court to have the gun he used to shoot three people during a night of unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, returned to him so it can be destroyed, according to The Associated Press.

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The motion was filed two months after Rittenhouse, 19, was acquitted on charges of killing two men and wounding another on Aug. 25, 2020. People took to the streets following the shooting by police of Jacob Blake. Blake survived the shooting but was left paralyzed.

According to the motion, Rittenhouse said he wanted the AR-15-style rifle returned so it could be destroyed. He also wants clothes that were taken by law enforcement authorities, a cellphone, ammunition and the rifle’s magazine returned to him.

A spokesman for the Rittenhouse family says Kyle Rittenhouse wants the rifle and clothing he wore from that night destroyed so it will not be used to “celebrate” the shootings that left Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber dead and Gaige Grosskreutz wounded.

“At the end of the day, two people did lose their lives, period,” David Hancock said. “That weapon was involved in that. That weapon doesn’t belong on a mantle. It doesn’t belong in a museum. It belongs where Kyle wants it, and Kyle wants it destroyed. ... There’s plenty of people out there who would like to hold these items up, on both sides. That’s nothing Kyle’s interested in.”

Rittenhouse went to Kenosha on that day to help protect private property, he testified. During the unrest, he shot three people, killing two and wounding another. He turned himself in hours after the shootings after he had returned to his home.

Rittenhouse testified that the shootings were in self-defense. The jury acquitted him on all the charges.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.