Kyle Rittenhouse Hires Wesley Snipes’ Tax Lawyer Robert Barnes
Facing first-degree murder charges, the Illinois teenager dumped his controversial old attorney for an equally controversial new one.
Nam Y. Huh/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo / Reuters
Accused Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse has hired Wesley Snipes’ former tax attorney to represent him as he fights first-degree murder charges in Wisconsin state court.
“Happy to join the #KyleRittenhouse team,” Robert Barnes tweeted Thursday night, after replacing controversial attorney John Pierce. “Kid's innocent, and everybody knows it.”
Rittenhouse, who lives in Illinois, is accused of traveling across state lines and fatally shooting two men and wounding a third during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, last August in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
In addition to Snipes, Barnes has represented conspiracy theorist and Infowars founder Alex Jones, as well as eight students from Covington Catholic High School in a 2019 lawsuit against various reporters and news outlets claiming they had been defamed. Barnes is joining Rittenhouse’s defense team as prosecutors seek a $200,000 increase to the teenager’s $2-million bond after he moved to a new address without notifying the court.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that Blake acknowledged he had a knife at the time of the incident.
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.