EXCLUSIVE – The ongoing murder trial for Kyle Rittenhouse, the man facing charges for fatally shooting two people and wounding a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin, is "a sham at best," New York City "subway vigilante" Bernhard Goetz told Fox News Digital.
Goetz, who argued self-defense after shooting four teenagers, who were Black, in 1984, spoke to Fox News Digital by phone on Thursday morning, when he questioned if the purpose of the trial was "to satisfy a mob."
"Someone has already hit you with a skateboard, and someone else is pointing a gun at you and they are shouting that they are going to kill you. You also have a gun, wouldn’t you start pointing your gun at them?" he asked.
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Bernhard Goetz seen leaving a New York City court in this undated photo. (Photo by Rick Maiman/Sygma via Getty Images) (Photo by Rick Maiman/Sygma via Getty Images)
Rittenhouse was 17 when he and at least one friend said they traveled to the Wisconsin city from Illinois on Aug. 25, 2020, to protect local businesses and provide medical aid after two nights of businesses being looted and set on fire.
He is charged with two counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide, recklessly endangering safety and illegal possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18. He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the highest charge.
Goetz referenced the unrest on that night and asked, "Why weren’t any of those people arrested?"
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Goetz made headlines in the 1980s for shooting four Black teenagers on a New York City subway. He was riding the No. 2 subway train on Dec. 22, 1984 when he used an illegal handgun to shoot the four teens after some from the group "approached him and asked for $5," court papers state. Goetz said they "effectively surrounded" him.
The teens allegedly had sharpened screwdrivers with them at the time, according to reports from the time, though Goetz said they "didn't show them."
Goetz argued it was self-defense because the teens had intended to rob him.
He was acquitted of attempted murder during his criminal trial in 1987 but was convicted of a weapons charge and spent eight and a half months behind bars.
Speaking to Fox News on Thursday, Goetz said the American legal system "should be a truth seeking process, and prosecutors should be held to that standard."
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"That standard falls when it becomes a political trial like mine was," he said, "and we see it happening again right now."
Rittenhouse took the stand in his own defense on Wednesday. His trial is expected to turn to the jury for deliberations as early as Friday.
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