World enews: Kyle Rittenhouse trial: Judge Bruce Schroeder’s ringtone revealed to be Trump’s rally theme tune

The ringtone of Judge Bruce Schroeder was revealed to be God Bless The USA by Lee Greenwood when it rang as the judge was presiding over the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

The song has been heavily used at rallies headlined by former President Donald Trump.

As the trial was returning from lunch, the Rittenhouse defence team was speaking when the judge’s phone rang to the tune of the patriotic anthem.

“Judge Schroeder’s phone rings in the middle of the Rittenhouse trial, and it just happens to be the theme song from the Trump rallies when he walks on stage. Go figure,” attorney Ron Filipkowski tweeted.

The judge said that he will consider a defence motion for a mistrial after the defendant took the stand on Wednesday.

Mr Rittenhouse’s attorneys are seeking a mistrial with prejudice due to what they called “prosecutorial misconduct”. The defence accused prosecutors of violating Mr Rittenhouse’s rights by mentioning his silence in the wake of the 25 August 2020 shootings and by referencing a video that was previously deemed inadmissible.

If the motion is granted, Mr Rittenhouse cannot be tried again for the same crimes.

The 18-year-old is facing five charges including homicide and minor in possession of a weapon for shooting dead Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and injuring Gauge Grosskreutz during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He could be sentenced to a maximum of life in prison if convicted.

“God Bless the USA is the opening song played at every Trump rally. Lee Greenwood literally sang it at Trump’s inauguration,” Mikel Jollett tweeted.

“They will make a movie about this and no one will believe it’s based on actual events,” one Twitter user added.

Judge Schroeder ruled ahead of the trial that the prosecutors cannot refer to the two people Mr Rittenhouse stands accused of killing as “victims”.

Judge Schroeder decided last month that the term was too “loaded”, but that Mr Rittenhouse’s legal team can use words such as “rioters” and “looters” to refer to the men who were shot if they could produce evidence to back up the designations.

“If more than one of these people were engaged in arson, rioting or looting, then I’m not going to tell the defence they can’t call them that,” the judge said during a pre-trial hearing.

“The word ‘victim’ is a loaded, loaded word. And I think ‘alleged victim’ is a cousin to it,” he added. Rulings like this aren’t uncommon in trials deciding cases of self-defence, The Chicago Tribune reported.

Earlier during Wednesday’s trial, Mr Rittenhouse walked through the night of the shootings and broke down in tears as he described fearing for his life when confronted by protesters.

“I didn’t do anything wrong. I defended myself,” he said.

Under cross-examination, Mr Rittenhouse acknowledged that it was illegal for him to carry AR-15 rifle he used in the shootings and said he had a friend purchase it for him because: “I thought it looked cool.”

Prosecutor Thomas Binger sought to highlight Mr Rittenhouse’s lack of experience with AR-15s but questioned what he knows about the “full metal jacket” rounds used in the shooting.

Tensions boiled over just before lunch when Judge Schroeder admonished the prosecution for referencing a video that had been excluded from evidence at a pretrial hearing.