19-year-old charged with illegally buying weapon for alleged Kenosha shooter

November 10, 2020November 10, 2020 WKXA

Kuzma/iStockBy CHERYL GENDRON and IVAN PEREIRA, ABC News

(KENOSHA, Wis.) — A 19-year-old in Kenosha, Wisconsin, has been charged with illegally providing the weapon allegedly used to kill two people and injure a third at a Black Lives Matter protest in August.

Dominick Black is facing two counts of intentionally giving a dangerous weapon to a person under the age of 18, causing death, according to a criminal complaint released Monday.

Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teen facing murder charges for allegedly killing two people at an Aug. 25 protest in Kenosha, allegedly gave Black the money to purchase the Smith & Wesson M&P 15 rifle used at the rally, according to the complaint.

“The defendant purchased the rifle for Mr. Rittenhouse to use. Mr. Rittenhouse was 17 years old at the time and, therefore, was not legally able to purchase the rifle for himself. The defendant was aware of this fact,” the criminal complaint said.

Black, currently being held in on a $2,500 cash bond, bought the rifle in May and stored it at his stepfather’s house, according to the complaint.

Following the Aug. 23 police shooting of an unarmed Black man, Jacob Blake, protests erupted throughout the city.

Black allegedly volunteered to break the city’s curfew on Aug. 25 and went out with a rifle to protect a car dealership, calling Rittenhouse to join him, according to the complaint, which also stated that the pair retrieved the rifle from Black’s stepfather’s home.

Rittenhouse is facing first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide and first-degree recklessly endangering safety charges in the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, during the protest. He’s also charged with attempted reckless homicide for a shooting that night that severely wounded protester Gaige Grosskreutz, 26.

Rittenhouse’s attorneys contend their client traveled to Kenosha, about 21 miles from his hometown of Antioch, Illinois, on the day of the shooting to answer “his patriotic and civil duty to serve” the city “during a destructive insurrection.” They claim Rittenhouse, who is currently held on $2 million bail, acted in self-defense when he shot Rosenbaum, Huber, and Grosskreutz.

According to the complaint, Rosenbaum allegedly followed Rittenhouse into a used car lot and confronted him in an attempt to disarm him before Rittenhouse shot him, according to a criminal complaint. The medical examiner found that Rosenbaum was shot in the groin and back — which fractured his pelvis and perforated his right lung and liver — and his left hand. He also suffered a superficial wound to his left thigh and a graze wound to his forehead.

Rittenhouse was chased by protesters and fell, according to the criminal complaint. At that point, Huber tried to pull Rittenhouse’s gun away when he was allegedly shot and killed, according to the complaint. Rittenhouse then allegedly shot Grosskreutz, who had his hands in the air, in the right arm, according to the complaint.

According to the complaint, Grosskreutz moved towards Rittenhouse after putting his hands in the air and “appears to be holding a handgun in his right hand when he was shot.”

Hours after the shooting, Kenosha police officers interviewed Black in Antioch, Illinois, according to a police report obtained by ABC News.

Black allegedly led the police officers to two rifles in the trunk of his car and admitted to buying one of the weapons for Rittenhouse, according to the report from Antioch police.

“Black was asked if he knew where Kyle got the rifle. Black replied, ‘Yeah, it’s mine. He got it from my dad’s house.’ Black then stated Kyle bought it with his money, but he [Black] got it for him,” the report said.

Police interviewed Black’s stepfather, who told them he didn’t approve of his stepson buying the gun for Rittenhouse, according to the report. The stepfather said he kept the gun locked up in a gun safe in his garage, but brought it into the house for personal protection after the unrest began in Kenosha, the report said. He told officers he didn’t realize the gun was gone until the day after the shootings.

If convicted, Black faces up to 12 years in prison, prosecutors said.

Black’s attorney didn’t immediately return messages from ABC News seeking comment.