Thread by @sierragillespie

Media and attorneys are now filing into the courtroom. I'm seated directly behind the defendant, Kyle Rittenhouse.

This morning, Rittenhouse is wearing a blue suit and is kind of fidgety. Since he entered the courtroom, he has not sat down.

Rittenhouse's mom has entered the courtroom. He has finally taken a seat and is looking through some paperwork on the desk in front of him.

For as jam packed as the media room was yesterday, there are a lot of open spaces in the gallery of the courtroom today.

Judge Schroeder: "Ready to roll?"

The jury is seated. Koerri Washington has been called to continue testimony.

Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger calls for the recording of Washington's August 25, 2020 livestream to be played, picking up where we left off yesterday.

The video references a man who is carrying a skateboard. Washington confirms he sees the person with the skateboard in the video, but does not know who he is. Binger confirms the man with the skateboard is Anthony Huber.

Binger confirms Gaige Grosskreutz is also shown in the video, though Washington says he does not recognize him.

Inside the courtroom, I'm not allowed to take photos or video. This is a photo from the same livestream that I captured yesterday. Right now, we can hear chants of "black lives matter" in the video.

Rittenhouse is whispering with his defense team and seemingly writing notes.

Binger has paused the video to show, once again, that Gaige Grosskreutz is show prominently in this portion of Washington's livestream.

Binger is now asking Washington to, on a map, where a tire fire had been set.

Washington: It was a fairly large fire. There was a fairly large response, I would say ... There was maybe a dozen officers with riot gear and stuff, they kind of pushed us back and told us to go.

Washington details how he reads and replies to comments while live streaming. He had heard of a fire that turned out to be "rumor."

Washington: There was plenty of disinformation going around, especially on the internet.
Binger: Wouldn't be the first time it happened, right?

The livestream now shows a man carrying a rifle. Washington says he does not know who this man is, but Binger confirms it is Ryan Balch, who visited downtown Kenosha with Kyle Rittenhouse on August 25, 2020.

Binger has now paused the video of the livestream showing defendant, Kyle Rittenhouse, running through the frame carrying a fire extinguisher.

In the video, Washington says he isn't sure what Rittenhouse is doing, but that he and a few people should follow him to see what he is planning.

Washington said he took a "mental note" of Rittenhouse that night, because he was an "interesting figure." He says Rittenhouse was wearing gloves and smoking cigarettes that night.

Washington: I wasn't too aware of how close all of these people were ... I figured maybe he had some sort of intel or communication with someone or something, and was going to extinguish a fire or something.

Washington: Heading in that direction, it wasn't to follow the defendant, it was to see what was happening.

In the video, you can hear Washington riding on his skateboard following Rittenhouse. He mentioned earlier that he skateboards often and was skating that night to get from one place to another.

The video is now paused on Richie McGinniss, the reporter who was following Rittenhouse and friends the night of August 25, 2020. Binger uses a pointer to show the reporter to the jury.

Rittenhouse has his eyes on the live stream. He seems to have been watching it pretty intently.

Binger is now using the pointer to show Joseph Rosenbaum in the video. Rosenbaum was fatally shot by Rittenhouse that night.

We've just heard a gunshot on the video of the livestream.

Binger is asking the jury to pay attention to the area in front of Car Source, so they know where to look as the shots continue. The video plays and several more shots are heard.

Binger: We have just heard the shot of Mr. Rosenbaum.

(What did you do after you heard the shots?) Washington: I skated away to find safety .... I kind of found like a position behind a retaining wall, and tried to kind of film behind the retaining wall.

Binger is clarifying that the first shot was shot by Joshua Ziminski. No one was injured in that shooting.

After that, Binger confirms four shots were shot by Kyle Rittenhouse into Joseph Rosenbaum. After that he says three to four shots were fired, but they were not done so by Rittenhouse.

Binger ends his questioning by asking whether Washington saw any fires at the Car Source during the time of the shootings. Washington confirms he did NOT see any fires.

The prosecution turns the witness over to the defense. Rittenhouse attorney Corey Chirafisi begins cross examination of Koerri Washington.

This is defense attorney Corey Chirafisi who is representing Kyle Rittenhouse.

Chirafisi hands Washington several photos to describe. Washington describes them as Kenosha garbage trucks that are acting as a barricade during the unrest.

The defense was struggling with its technology today, so Chirafisi handed Washington physical photos. Now, the technological issues have been resolved and the photos are on the screen for jurors to see.

Chirafisi: Would it be fair to say that what's shown on the screen is a red flag to you?
Washington: I mean, yeah. It's a burning garbage truck.

For reference, here's a map of downtown Kenosha. The Dinosaur Discovery Museum has been mentioned several times as a reference point, as have the Kenosha County Courthouse and Car Source location. All are within walking distance of each other.

We've now seen video of another location, that Washington recalls "burns to the ground that night."

Washington confirms on Tuesday (August 25, 2020, the night of the shootings) that he did NOT see any fires at the Car Source.

Here's some video of the fire and unrest we are now being shown.

Washington says he believes on August 24, 2020, there were more people out "protecting their businesses" than the night before.
He says on August 25, 2020, there were less people out protesting and fewer fires as well.

To clarify, August 23, 2020 was the day Jacob Blake was shot. Blake, a black man, was shot by a white police officer. After his shooting, unrest broke out in Kenosha for several days. August 25, 2020 was the night Rittenhouse made several fatal shots.

Chirafisi: There were more people out, but substantially less property damage when it relates to fire?
Washington: Yes.

There's been some back and forth on Washington's part. At first, he said there were more people out during the protests on August 25 than there were on August 24. Later, he said there were less people out on August 25 than on August 25.

(On people setting fires and others trying to put them out) Washington: There was a lot of back and forth ... Things would happen and people would come and then they would resolve the issue.

Washington says he "possibly" saw people with fire extinguishers on August 24, but remembers seeing many more people with them working to put out fires on August 25.

Washington: There was pretty much objections on everything everything disagreed on.

Chirafisi: Did you hear [Rosenbaum] saying, "Shoot me, shoot me" ?
Washington: I've seeing a video of him saying, 'Shoot me ...
Chirafisi: And then the n word?
Washington: Yeah.

Chirafisi: Do you think it's reasonable that people put out fires that are set near gas stations?
Washington: Yes, that's reasonable.

Chirafisi now pointing out the defendant, Kyle Rittenhouse, in Washington's live stream.

Chirafisi is now calling back to Washington's use of a skateboard on August 25, 2020, and asking if you could use a skateboard to hit someone.

Washington: It's a plank of wood, pretty much, so however you favor holding a plank of wood ... You could grab it by anything really.

This may be the quote of the day so far:

Washington: I'm not an expert at striking someone with my skateboard. I kind of just ride it, like what it's meant for.

Something of note if you're following along on the @LawCrimeNetwork livestream: Chirafisi walks away from his microphone a lot, so it may be difficult to hear. He's also a quiet talker, so it's even a bit tough to hear in-person.

@LawCrimeNetwork Washington: People said there were going to randomly shoot people ... black people. And as you all can see, I am a black man ... So I took a mental note of people who were acting erratic ... Little things that stood out, like chain smoking with gloves on.

@LawCrimeNetwork Washington earlier mentioned that he made note of Rittenhouse the night of because he was "chain smoking" and wearing gloves.

Washington: He just seemed like he was so young and didn't really know what was going on ... Not necessarily focusing on him per se.

@LawCrimeNetwork Washington: Chain smoking cigarettes is kind of a behavioral thing ... You don't necessarily have to engage with people to have mannerisms ... I suppose you could say "nervous," would be a fair way to see it. He seemed nervous in the situation.

@LawCrimeNetwork Washington stated he does not remember fires at the Car Source the night of the fire. Chirafisi eventually gets him to confirm there were fires in a vehicle outside of Car Source that night, by showing him a video.

@LawCrimeNetwork The judge has now called for a break.