Kyle Rittenhouse: Gun used in Kenosha shootings to be destroyed

The assault rifle used by the US teenager Kyle Rittenhouse to shoot three men during a protest in Wisconsin is to be destroyed.

State prosecutors and Mr Rittenhouse's defence team agreed to the move at a hearing in a court in Kenosha.

Mr Rittenhouse wanted the gun destroyed to stop it becoming a political symbol, his spokesman said.

The case - which saw Mr Rittenhouse cleared of all charges including murder - has divided the US.

Mr Rittenhouse is considered a patriotic hero by some, and a reckless vigilante by others - with his case becoming a flashpoint in the highly polarised debates over gun rights and racial equality in the US.

Videos found online by the BBC have shown some people glorifying Mr Rittenhouse's actions, and some have recreated his shooting at gun ranges.

Mr Rittenhouse was 17 when he shot dead two men - Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26 - and wounded a third with a semi-automatic rifle during civil unrest in Kenosha in August 2020.

He travelled to Kenosha from his home in Illinois after riots had erupted following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man, leaving him paralysed.

Mr Rittenhouse was cleared in November last year of two counts of homicide and one of attempted homicide after claiming self-defence and that he feared for his life.

Mr Rittenhouse's legal team asked the court earlier this month to return the firearm so it could be destroyed.

The court will be informed once the weapon has been destroyed, said Kenosha County Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger, according to CNN.