In an order issued this morning, Judge Lynn Adelman rejected arguments from Defendants—including Kyle Rittenhouse and the City and County of Kenosha. Anthony Huber was one of two men killed by Rittenhouse during demonstrations that occurred in Kenosha, WI in the wake of the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Milwaukee – Today a federal judge ruled in favor Anthony Huber’s family in a civil rights lawsuit against the City of Kenosha and Kenosha police officers that seeks to hold the law-enforcement officers responsible for their role in the events leading to Anthony Huber’s death. The Court also rejected Rittenhouse’s attempts to dismiss this civil action.
Today’s ruling is a momentous victory for the Huber family, moving their case closer to a jury trial. The full civil rights complaint can be found here.
In August 2021, Anthony Huber’s family filed a constitutional civil rights lawsuit in federal court against the City of Kenosha Police Department and Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department for their role in Rittenhouse’s deadly rampage that left the Hubers’ son, Anthony, dead. Kenosha City and County Police took sides during the peaceful protest and deputized Kyle Rittenhouse and the other armed, pro-police militia members to patrol the streets and control demonstrators who were protesting police violence and racism. The lawsuit alleges that the police invited in Rittenhouse and other illegally armed individuals to patrol the streets with deadly weapons to mete out justice as they saw fit.
Today’s order affirms the Huber family’s lawsuit:
“[Defendants’] conduct, as alleged in the complaint, involved forcing protestors into a confined area with hostile, armed individuals, and then failing to protect the protestors from violence perpetrated by the armed individuals,” wrote Judge Lynn Adelman. Judge Adelman further noted that the complaint alleges that the shootings “were a foreseeable result of the defendants’ decision to create an explosive situation by forcing protestors into a confined area with hostile armed individuals.”
John Huber and Karen Bloom, Anthony’s parents, have had to litigate the grief of their son’s murder over the past several years, all while enduring bitter public attacks from far-right media.After the 2021 criminal trial of Kyle Rittenhouse ended in acquittal, Anthony’s parents wrote:
“Make no mistake: our fight to hold those responsible for Anthony’s death accountable continues in full force. Neither Mr. Rittenhouse nor the Kenosha police who authorized his bloody rampage will escape justice. Anthony will have his day in court.”
“Today’s ruling puts Anthony’s family one step closer to justice for their son’s needless death,” said Anand Swaminathan of Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law, one of John Huber and Karen Bloom’s attorneys. “The Kenosha officials that created a powder keg situation by their actions tried to claim that they cannot be held accountable for their unconstitutional conduct; that argument was soundly rejected today.”
“The lawsuit will proceed to discovery, allowing full transparency into the events of that fateful and tragic evening,” continued Swaminathan.
Rittenhouse and the other Defendants had asked the judge to dismiss this civil lawsuit against them. Rittenhouse claimed that he was not properly “served” with the legal complaint – the essential first step for initiating a civil lawsuit. The Court stated that “Rittenhouse . . . is almost certainly evading service.”
The estate of Anthony Huber is represented by his attorneys, Jon Loevy, Dan Twetten, Anand Swaminathan, Steve Art, and Quinn Rallins, all of Loevy & Loevy Attorneys at Law. Loevy & Loevy is one of the nation’s largest civil rights law firms, and over the past decade has won more multi-million-dollar jury verdicts than any other civil rights law firm in the country.
A copy of today’s ruling, John Huber, in his individual capacity and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Anthony Huber, v. David G. Beth, Kyle Rittenhouse, City of Kenosha, et al., case no. 21-cv-00969 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, is available here.