Was Kyle Rittenhouse charged as an adult?

In 2020, then-17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse shot and killed two men and wounded another at a social justice demonstration in Kenosha, Wisconsin. About a year later, Rittenhouse was cleared on all charges when a jury ruled he acted in self-defense. But was Rittenhouse tried as a minor in the case?

Whether or not Rittenhouse was tried as an adult was brought up in 2024 when Rittenhouse questioned, on X, why the names of the two Kansas City Super Bowl parade shooters were not released in the press. More than 20 people died in the KC incident, and one person was killed.

The Rittenhouse reaction

Weeks after the KC shooting, Kyle Rittenhouse wrote on X,

“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.”

via Kyle Rittenhouse/X

The same day Rittenhouse wrote that on X, however, The New York Times reported that two adults named Dominic Miller and Lyndell Mays were charged with murder stemming from the Kansas City shooting and that two teenagers were also in custody for resisting arrest and “gun-related charges.” The names of the two teens were not printed.

It all comes down to state law

According to KSDK.com, Missouri laws changed about a year before the Super Bowl celebration shooting, mandating that minors remain anonymous in court cases. Similar laws are in place nationwide.

Justifying the Missouri law, Missouri mother, Kara Elms, who advocated for the change, said,

” … [O]ftentimes, these children have been injured, they’ve been abused, and I didn’t want that information following them in a public way for the rest of their life.” 

via KSDK.com

As for the 2020 Rittenhouse case, he was controversially tried as an adult, but as Mother Jones writes, Wisconsin law says that 17-year-olds are not tried as minors, explaining why Rittenhouse’s name was revealed while those of the two teens — who at first were thought to be the shooters in Kansas City, but were later revealed to be in custody for other reasons — were concealed.

The two boys’ names may eventually be revealed

What’s more, it was possible at the time of this writing the two teens could eventually be charged and tried as adults and have their names released, a legal process that could take weeks to complete.

In the end, there was one clear answer to Rittenhouse’s question raised on X: His name was mentioned in the media while the names of the two teens involved in the Kansas City shooting were concealed for legal reasons surrounding minors in court cases, and not because Rittenhouse is white and the two KC teenagers facing charges are rumored to be Black, as Rittenhouse implied, and the comments on his post plainly said.