Fact Check: Kyle Rittenhouse Compares His Case to Kansas City Shootings

Two teenagers in custody remain unnamed after several suspects were charged in the Kansas City shootings, which left one dead and 21 people injured on February 14.

The shootings during the Kansas City Chiefs' Super Bowl victory parade took place west of the Missouri city's Union Station, near a parking garage that was close to the parade's main stage.

Two men, Dominic Miller and Lyndell Mays, have been charged with murder, while two unnamed teens were charged the day after the shootings with "gun-related and resisting arrest" offenses.

Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted in the deaths of two men he shot at age 17 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020, reacted this week by questioning why he was identified when arrested but the teens in Kansas City were not.

The Claim

A Tuesday post on X (formerly Twitter) by Rittenhouse, which has been viewed more than 12.5 million times, said: "I am trying to comprehend why the government was quick to reveal my name after I defended myself, but they still haven't released the names of the Kansas City shooters."

The Facts

Rittenhouse shot and killed two men—Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26—and injured a 26-year-old named Gaige Grosskreutz on August 25, 2020, during a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He used a semi-automatic AR-15-style assault rifle and said the three shootings were self-defense.

Rittenhouse was acquitted in November 2021 on charges of first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide and two charges of first-degree recklessly endangering safety.

Rittenhouse's Arrest

Rittenhouse was arrested in Illinois on August 26, 2020, on a Kenosha-issued charge of first-degree intentional homicide. That afternoon, he was named in a statement by the Village of Antioch Police Department.

"This morning Kenosha County authorities issued an arrest warrant for the individual responsible for the incident, charging him with First Degree Intentional Homicide," the statement said.

It continued: "The suspect in this incident, 17-year-old Antioch resident, Kyle Rittenhouse, is currently in custody of the Lake County Judicial System pending an extradition hearing to transfer custody from Illinois to Wisconsin."

Rittenhouse was charged with six offenses in the state of Wisconsin on August 27. In Wisconsin, 17-year-olds are tried as adults, whose personal details, unlike those for juveniles, are open to the public.

Jim Moran, the Antioch assistant village administrator, told Newsweek that Rittenhouse was named because he had been charged as an adult in Wisconsin.

"Kyle was charged in Kenosha County. Kenosha County charged Kyle with first-degree murder or homicide as an adult," he said. "The adult charges is why his name was released as part of the charges.

"Also at that point, when [the] Facebook post was made, in addition to being charged as an adult, I believe his name was already public record or publicly associated. He was a known person at the time," Moran said.

"The main thing is that he's been charged as an adult, and the village did review everything with our village attorney, so his name was released under guidance with our attorney," he said.

An NBC News report on August 27, 2020, said that videos spread on social media the night of the shooting appeared to show Rittenhouse on camera. In addition, Rittenhouse spoke to conservative news site The Daily Caller that evening.

Newsweek has contacted Rittenhouse via Twitter for comment.

How Rittenhouse Case Compares With Kansas City

Rittenhouse's circumstances appear to be different from those in Kansas City.

Unlike in Wisconsin, where 17-year-olds are tried as adults whose details are open to the public, Missouri suspects under 18 are treated as juveniles. The two teenagers arrested in connection with the Kansas City shootings have been referred to as juveniles by Missouri authorities.

Under Missouri statute, juvenile court records are usually not open to the public.

The Situation in Kansas

While juvenile court records in Missouri are generally not made public, records may be disclosed in some circumstances. A hearing can be held to determine disclosure if a juvenile has committed an offense that, if committed by an adult, would be tried as a class A felony, capital murder, first-degree murder or second-degree murder.

However, the Jackson County Family Court Division has said hearings for the two teenagers will not be open to the public.

Valerie Hartman, public information officer for the 16th Circuit Court of Jackson County, told Newsweek on Wednesday that while it was "understandable that the general public would like more information regarding the events surrounding the Chiefs celebration," the Missouri statute "limits the information that can be provided when minors are involved."

Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker said Tuesday that Miller, who lives in Kansas City, and Mays, who is from Raytown, were charged with murder in the second degree, two counts of armed criminal action and unlawful use of a weapon. These charges are separate from the two juveniles' cases.

Baker told a press conference on Tuesday: "There are two juveniles. That has been reported already pretty broadly by the news media. Those are being handled by a different office at this point in time."

The Kansas City Star reported that requests to the Jackson County circuit court for further details about the teens had been denied.

The Ruling

Needs Context.

In 2020, Rittenhouse was charged in Wisconsin, where 17-year-olds are charged and tried as adults. Details of adult cases are open to the public.

Two teenagers have been charged in connection with the Kansas City shootings this month on gun-related and resisting arrest offenses. Their names, ages and more specific details on the charges have not been revealed.

Missouri law says that juvenile court records are not open to the public. Records may be disclosed in circumstances where serious offenses have been alleged. Authorities have said hearings for the two teenagers in Kansas City will not be open to the public.

Two men have been separately charged with murder in connection with the Kansas City shootings.

FACT CHECK BY Newsweek's Fact Check team