- Prosecutors in Kenosha, Wisconsin, asked a judge to admit new video as evidence against Kyle Rittenhouse.
- The video purportedly shows Rittenhouse wishing he had his gun to shoot at people leaving a pharmacy.
- Prosecutors said the video shows Rittenhouse's state of mind weeks before he shot and killed two men.
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Prosecutors say a newly surfaced video taken just weeks before last year's deadly Kenosha shootings captured the Illinois teenager Kyle Rittenhouse describing his wish to shoot at people leaving a pharmacy with an AR-15.
According to court documents obtained by Insider, prosecutors are seeking to have the judge admit the video as evidence in Rittenhouse's upcoming trial. They argue that the video provides "crucial insight" into Rittenhouse's state of mind in summer 2020.
The 29-second video, which has been published by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, does not show Rittenhouse's face. The video was apparently filmed across the street from a CVS Pharmacy, where several hooded figures could be seen rushing out, clutching items.
A voice that sounds like Rittenhouse's can be heard saying, "Bro, I wish I had my f—ing AR. I'd start shooting rounds at them."
It's unclear who filmed the video, where exactly it was filmed, or how prosecutors obtained it. Rittenhouse's attorney did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Rittenhouse, 18, is charged with killing 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum and 26-year-old Anthony Huber, and severely injuring 26-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz, amid heated racial justice protests in Kenosha on August 25, 2020. His trial begins November 1.
Prosecutors alleged that Rittenhouse was "hunting humans" that evening and shot the men as an act of vigilantism. Rittenhouse has maintained that all three men were chasing him, and he opened fire in self defense.
Prosecutors wrote in the August 18 motion that the new video, taken just 15 days before the Kenosha shootings, revealed that Rittenhouse "saw something, jumped to a conclusion based on exactly zero facts, and then threatened to kill someone based on his baseless assumption and wrongful interpretation."
Prosecutors added that Rittenhouse didn't know the people outside the CVS or what they were doing, was merely watching from a vehicle parked across the street, and was not interacting with anyone involved.
"The video proves that the defendant was ready and willing to use deadly force in a situation where it was completely unjustified," the motion said.
"The video also demonstrates that the defendant fervently sought to insert himself as an armed vigilante into situations that had nothing to do with him," prosecutors continued.