Milwaukee-based citizen journalist takes witness stand in Rittenhouse trial

 

KENOSHA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A citizen journalist whose video was shown to jurors says watching it is like reliving the moment. 

Kristan T. Harris can't get that night out of his mind. In posting videos for his show The Rundown Live for more than 10 years, he called the Kenosha madness "an urban war zone" and says it's the worst thing he's experienced.

When Jacob Blake supporters took to the streets of Kenosha, Kristan T. Harris grabbed his cellphone and went live.

"So we've got militia on the roof here," said Harris on The Rundown Live. 

You see multiple people on Car Source's roof, and then you see Kyle Rittenhouse in the lot.

"And are you guys local or no?" Harris asked. "Yeah. I'm Kyle, by the way," Rittenhouse told Harris.

"It was just an initial meeting, hey, what are you guys doing here? He's like oh, I'm Kyle. What are you guys up to? Oh, we're here to protect the property, and he was telling me he's a medic and all this other stuff, which obviously was not accurate. He was just eager to be there is what I got from it. I didn't get that he was there to be very nefarious," said Harris.

Harris began documenting the Kenosha protests from the start, arriving within the first hour after Jacob Blake was shot by police.

"It was wild. There was people jumping on squad cars, throwing bricks through squad cars," said Harris.

Harris testified on Monday this week. He says the jury was shown less than 10 minutes of his two hours of footage. On the video, you hear gunshots in the distance, see people running, and for a brief moment, there's Rittenhouse.

"I don't think the law enforcement made good decisions that night. I don't think the armed citizens made good decisions that night. I don't think the protesters made good decisions that night, and I think that's why we have court and that's why we're there now," said Harris.

As for protesters, we're hearing from Jacob Blake's uncle that they'll be back out in Kenosha advocating for a guilty verdict Friday from 4-5 p.m.

They'll also be back out when the jury returns on Monday.