KENOSHA COUNTY, Wis. — Nearly five years after the 2020 riots that devastated downtown Kenosha, two major federal civil rights lawsuits related to the Kyle Rittenhouse shootings have been formally consolidated — and may remain in litigation well into 2026 or beyond.
Sam Hall, the county’s outside legal counsel, briefed the Kenosha County Board in open session on July 15, outlining the status of three remaining lawsuits tied to the unrest. Of those, he said the consolidated lawsuit brought by the estate of Anthony Huber and protester Gaige Grosskreutz is “by far the largest and most significant” pending case.
The two lawsuits, originally filed separately in 2021, were officially merged for pretrial discovery in May 2023 by U.S. District Judge Lynn Adelman. Both men were shot by Kyle Rittenhouse during the night of August 25, 2020. Huber was killed, and Grosskreutz seriously wounded. The suits target Rittenhouse and a wide range of law enforcement agencies and local governments, including Kenosha County, the City of Kenosha, and several surrounding jurisdictions.
“These were brought separately but ultimately consolidated,” Hall told board members. “There’s a very long runway on this case.”
That “runway” includes more than a million pages of documents already exchanged in discovery, with expert witness deadlines still ahead. No motions for summary judgment — the county’s next step to try to get the case dismissed — are due until March 2026. And even that deadline may be pushed back, Hall said.
The lawsuits allege that police and sheriff’s officials treated armed civilians, including Rittenhouse, with deference and leniency while aggressively policing demonstrators protesting the police shooting of Jacob Blake. The complaints cite law enforcement actions that plaintiffs say amounted to deputizing vigilantes, funneling protesters into harm’s way, and allowing curfew violations by armed groups.
Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, fatally shot Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum, and wounded Grosskreutz. He was later acquitted of all criminal charges after arguing self-defense.
The lawsuits brought by Huber’s father and by Grosskreutz are based on federal civil rights laws — including claims of conspiracy and failure to protect — and seek unspecified monetary damages. They name nearly two dozen entities and individuals as defendants, including former Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth, former Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis, and law enforcement agencies from Racine, Waukesha, Sauk, Walworth, and Washington counties.
The defendants have denied all allegations, saying officers did not conspire with or support Rittenhouse or any other armed individuals. In court filings, the City of Kenosha and other municipalities rejected the idea that local governments could be held liable for the actions of a private individual acting independently.
In recent months, litigation has increasingly focused on missing or disputed records, including text messages sent by officers during the unrest. Plaintiffs filed a motion to compel missing phone data, alleging that departments failed to preserve key communications. The county and other defendants have opposed that motion, insisting they followed proper protocols and did not act in bad faith.
Meanwhile, litigation expenses continue to climb. A public records request revealed that Kenosha County has already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on outside counsel in the riot-related lawsuits, with further costs expected as discovery and pretrial motions continue.
Hall also provided brief updates on two other pending cases from the unrest: one filed by journalists Alyssa Schukar and Scott Olson, who allege they were shot with rubber bullets, and another filed by Jacob Blake’s uncle, Justin Blake, who claims he was wrongfully restrained in a jail chair during booking. In both cases, summary judgment motions have been filed and are awaiting rulings.
In concluding his presentation, Hall reminded board members that while much of the public’s attention on 2020 has faded, the legal fallout is far from over.
“These cases remain very active and very much ongoing,” he said. “And that’s likely to be the case for the foreseeable future.”
23 Responses
Grosskruetz and Rosenbaum clearly tried jumping Kyle, Grosskruetz fired a shot in the air to distract and simultaneously Rosenbaum threw something at Kyle. Immediately after Rosenbaum used the distractions to charge Kyle. Technically Grosskruetz should be charged with felony murder for initiating the conflict that led to Rosenbaum’s death with a crime. Jumping someone to take their gun is definitely robbery.
Lawyers are the leeches and ticks of the world.
Some yes, some no.
There is a night and day difference between …….. just like with anything else ..
GG is now Paul Prediger(sp). I would love to counter sue. I was diagnosed with PTSD, and anxiety due to the riots . Does anyone know what happened to the woman who has an order of protection against Blake? The one who’s house he showed up at when the KPD were called?
This is the cost of doing the right thing, and the right thing would have been to lock those clowns up a long time ago with a better district attorney leading the charge.
Tony Evers makes sure that Tony Evers Club members don’t get locked up ..
Evers is another puppet. An empty suit being told what to do
Most of those people/thugs involved in the Kenosha riots were from Minnesota and the west coast brought in by the left to cause chaos around the 2020 elections
This was all planned
Exactly. Certain businesses were a planned burn, because they wouldn’t sell previously.
You mean “peaceful protest”?
What in the Sam Hall!
Sure do hope the lawyer has all the audio , correspondence and video and website and fbook posts from wgtd —npr sponsored —– since they have their version play by play of the event. Hell , readers couldn’t keep up with their ‘reports’. I wouldn’t want that to Disappear .
These lawsuits are ridiculous! If these people weren’t there and involved with the violence they would of never got hurt or killed! They made a choice to be there!
Have any of the businesses that burned down sued John ” just let them burn ” Antaramian?
The true colors of the comment section people on this page was shown with all of the sexually violent and repulsive comments about Niccolai. Vile. It gave a real good idea of the people who comment here.
The only repulsive thing here is Nicolai and how she acts while she is under the influence, which is most of the time.