Footage shows Kenosha gunman Kyle Rittenhouse ‘punching a girl several times during argument ‘

Shocking new footage has emerged online that allegedly shows Kenosha gunman Kyle Rittenhouse punching a young girl several times in the midst of an argument.

The footage, which first began circulating on Twitter earlier this week, was captured on July 1 – just weeks before the 17-year-old would shoot dead two Black Lives Matter protesters with an AR-15 amid on-going riots in the city and seriously injure a third.

The melee occurred in Downtown Kenosha, according to the two men who filmed the clip, Reese Granville and CJ Wakefield, who also identified the teen depicted as Rittenhouse to the Journal Times.

The teen boy is also seen wearing the same American Flag Crocs in the footage that Rittenhouse was seen wearing in a widely photo of the shooter from his Facebook page.

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The video begins with two females arguing in a parking lot in Downtown Kenosha.

In the first clip, the teen identified to be Rittenhouse and several other young males are seen watching on as the confrontation between the two girls unfolds. One of the females, who is wearing a white tank top, accuses the other of touching her.

Moments later, the argument escalates and the teen believed to be Rittenhouse and another male begin exchanging words with the accused female, dressed in grey sweatpants. A third female enters the fold and begins fighting the girl in sweatpants.

The teen believed to be Rittenhouse then joins in with the assault, appearing to land at least four punches on the girl, including on the back of her head and abdomen, while another male attempts to hold him back to no avail.

Granville and Wakefield are then seen both hopping out from the car, as two other men from a vehicle in front do the same.

In a second video captured by a passenger of the other vehicle, a man in seen jumping out of a burgundy SUV and to confront Rittenhouse.

‘Do not put your hands on a female [expletive],’ he says.

In total, four men approach Rittenhouse. One of the men begins grappling with him, striking him several times and forcing him the ground. 

As Rittenhouse scrambles on the ground in an attempt to escape, a number of the men begin kicking him as female voices are heard urging them to stop.

Rittenhouse, dressed in red, white, and blue shorts, is eventually able to stand and is seen hobbling away from the parking lot. The four men who stopped to confront him also run back to their cars.

It is unclear if authorities were called to the scene. Rittenhouse has not officially been identified as the teen involved by any law enforcement.

Rittenhouse is charged with first-degree intentional homicide in the shooting death of two Black Lives Matter protesters in Kenosha last week, during unrest spurred by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, who was shot seven times in the back.

Investigators say the teen, who is being detained in his home state of Illinois while he awaits extradition, shot and killed 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum while with an armed militia group who claimed they were seeking to protect businesses from looters.

Rittenhouse then ran from the scene of the shooting but was chased by a group of demonstrators and stumbled. In a video from the night, a second protester, 26-year-old Anthony Huber is seen swinging a skateboard at the teen, before Rittenhouse fatally shoots him in the chest.

A third man, Gaige Grosskreutz, 26, approached the teen and was shot in the arm. Images show that Grosskreutz was holding a handgun when he was shot.

According to his defense attorneys, Rittenhouse says he was acting in self-defense. One of his lawyers, John Pierce has praised the teenager for his actions and argued that he was only defending himself against a ‘relentless’ mob trying to disarm and hurt him.

‘This is 100 percent self defense,’ Pierce told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight.

‘The only individuals Kyle shot were the three individuals attacking him and putting him at risk. This is a 17-year-old kid, this is amazing what he did.’

It echoes comments made by President Donald Trump on Monday night who sided with the teenager, saying he was trying to get away and would have been killed by the protesters if he had not opened fire.

In addition to his AR-15-style rifle, Rittenhouse’s lawyer said the teenager also had had a first aid kit with him to help treat injured protesters.

Pierce said the incident escalated when a shot was fired as Rittenhouse tried to retreat from a group of protesters who, he claims, became enraged that the teen was trying to put out fires.

‘They began screaming that Kyle needed to be killed and they were going to kill him. They started relentlessly hunting him as prey as he ran down the street attempting to retreat,’ Pierce said.

‘Mr Rosenbaum, who was leading the attack on him, set upon him immediately… began to assault him from behind, attempted to take his weapon, take his firearm, and Kyle, when he turned, he instantaneously had no choice but to defend himself by firing because he was in imminent danger of serious bodily harm or death.’

Pierce also denied that Rittenhouse brought the AR-15 across state lines from Illinois to Wisconsin. He says the teen acquired it from a friend in the state.

‘That firearm never crossed state lines. It is a legal firearm in Wisconsin,’ Pierce said, adding they would be arguing it is within his second amendment rights.

Witness accounts and cellphone video show that the shootings took place in two stages: Rittenhouse first shot Rosenbaum, then jogged away, stumbled and fell in the street, and opened fire again on Huber and Grosskreutz as members of the crowd closed in him.

After the gunfire, with his AR-15-style rifle over his shoulder and his hands in the air, Rittenhouse walked toward police vehicles that kept going past him, even as a witness shouted, ‘He just shot them!’

Police Chief Daniel Miskinis has explained the response as officers dealing with a chaotic scene.

Rittenhouse, a sometime lifeguard, later turned himself in, his lawyers said, and is now jailed on homicide charges.