Kenosha Shooter's Defense Portrays Him As 'American Patriot'

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CHICAGO (AP/CBS) -- Lawyers for Kyle Rittenhouse have launched a social media campaign depicting the Kenosha, Wisconsin, shooter as not just a scared teenager acting in self-defense, but an American hero akin to the Minutemen who fought at the nation's founding.

Rittenhouse, the Antioch, Illinois teen charged with killing two protesters amid unrest in Kenosha, will remain in custody in Illinois after a judge delayed his extradition hearing until Friday September 25.

The dramatic rhetoric has helped raise nearly $2 million to pay for the 17-year-old's defense against homicide charges in the killing of two protesters.

Kyle Rittenhouse was arrested in Lake County, Illinois, in connection with a shooting in Kenosha that left two dead and one wounded. (Source: Twitter)

But some legal experts say there are risks in turning a fairly straightforward self-defense case into a sweeping political argument that could play into a stereotype that he is a gun-crazed militia member out to start a revolution.

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Kenosha
Wisconsin