Opening arguments begin in Rittenhouse trial - jurors must decide self defense or vigilantism?

Opening statements are set to begin Tuesday in Wisconsin in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse – who as a 17-year-old killed two men when in Kenosha to protect the city during the August 2020 social justice demonstrations.

Statements begin one day after a jury was seated in the high-profile trial in which jurors will be asked to decide whether Rittenhouse was a vigilante who committed homicide or he acted in self defense.

The jury is made up of 12 jurors and eight alternates. 

Rittenhouse traveled from his home in Illinois to Kenosha amid rioting sparked by a white police officer fatally shooting black male Jacob Blake in the back.