Gaige Grosskreutz says he went to the racial-justice protest in the streets of Kenosha, Wisconsin, that fateful Aug. 25, 2020, night to serve as a volunteer medic. Once there, he ended up getting shot and seriously wounded in the arm by Kyle Rittenhouse. At Rittenhouse's murder trial Monday, Grosskreutz testified he was wearing a hat that night that said "paramedic" and was carrying medical supplies in addition to a loaded pistol. Grosskreutz was recording on his cellphone for a livestream when he heard gunshots a few blocks away. He heard people yelling for a medic, and began running toward the sound of the gunfire.
The 27-year-old said he went into action after seeing Rittenhouse kill a man just feet away—the second person Rittenhouse fatally shot that night, reports the AP. "I thought the defendant was an active shooter," Grosskreutz said, recounting how he pulled out the gun he had holstered. Asked what was going through his mind as he neared the 17-year-old, he said, "That I was going to die." Newsweek reports Grosskreutz said Rittenhouse pointed a rifle at him, so he put his hands up. Then he saw Rittenhouse re-rack his weapon. "Re-racking the weapon, in my mind, meant the defendant wasn't accepting my surrender," Grosskreutz said.
Rittenhouse fired, shooting Grosskreutz in the bicep; graphic video played in court showed much of his bicep torn away by the bullet. Prosecutor Thomas Binger asked Grosskreutz why he didn't shoot first. "That’s not the kind of person that I am. That’s not why I was out there," he said. On cross-examination, defense attorney Corey Chirafisi sought to portray Grosskreutz as dishonest in his description of the moments right before he was shot, with Chirafisi asserting that Grosskreutz was chasing Rittenhouse with his gun out. Grosskreutz denied that. (Read more of Grosskreutz’s testimony.)
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