Police departments in Lake County say they are prepared for the outcome in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, who resided in Antioch when he was arrested last year.
Lake County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli told Lake and McHenry County Scanner that his office has no information suggesting any problems or issues in the county yet.
“We do, however, continue to monitor and will adapt operations, if necessary to keep the Lake County community safe,” Covelli said.
Rittenhouse, 18, is facing charges of first-degree intentional homicide, two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, first-degree reckless homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
Rittenhouse, then 17 years old, lived in Antioch at the time of his arrest for shooting three men, killing two of them, on August 25, 2020.
Antioch Communications Coordinator Jim Moran said there is no reason yet to believe that Antioch will be the scene of “any significant gatherings” related to the trial’s outcome.
The Antioch Police Department is actively monitoring events and is prepared to adjust their response “to any level of potential need in our community,” Moran said.
The day that Rittenhouse was taken into custody at the Antioch Police Department on August 26, 2020, the village declared an emergency overnight curfew due to threats of looters and rioters targeting the village.
Antioch Mayor Lawrence Hanson said at the time that authorities had received “credible reports and police surveillance of confidential and public sources that rioters, looters and other bad actors have targeted the village.”
No issues were reported during the curfew and it was lifted the following day.
The jury in the Rittenhouse trial resumed their third day of deliberations Thursday morning.
Protesters from both sides have gathered outside the Kenosha County Courthouse while a verdict is awaited in the case.
Video posted on Twitter showed police officers arresting multiple people Wednesday afternoon outside the courthouse after a fight broke out.