I reported yesterday on the story of Cortez Rice — who claims to be the nephew of George Floyd — asserting that people were taking pictures of the Rittenhouse jury, presumably with the intent to dox them.
There are now reports that Judge Bruce Schroeder has stated that the police caught someone trying videotape the jury.
This morning, Judge Schroeder announced that there had been an “incident at the bus pick-up this morning.”
Fox News
“I’ve been assured that … the video, which had been taken, has been deleted,” Schroeder told the jury, “and new procedures are being instituted so that something like that … should not recur.”
The jurist added that he was “frankly quite surprised that it did.” He went on to say that he and the deputies had established “different procedures to do with respect to if it would occur.”
Before the jury arrived, Schroeder told the court that if a similar incident were to happen again, he had instructed deputies to “take the phone and bring it here.”
Fox reporter Jiovanni Lieggi said it didn’t appear that any more action was going to be taken.
There are still some questions that need to be answered. The person who tried to take photos of the jury should have been stopped. It is possible that intimidation was involved. Even though the jury was made aware, the act could have an impact on them. However, they should not be distracted from the factual facts and ignore all that is happening in their discussions. This may be difficult to keep out of their minds. Let’s hope they are made of stern stuff.
Fox contacted the defense and the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department to make them aware of the video from Cortez Rice.
Though declining to comment in detail to media citing the ongoing trial, Mark Richards, one of Rittenhouse’s defense attorneys, said by email early Tuesday, “the matter you speak about is being dealt with,” referring to a reporter’s questions regarding the video.
Kenosha County Sheriff’s Department Sgt. David Wright confirmed the department was “investigating this information and working with the courts.” He said the department did not have any additional comments or information.
Hopefully, they’re on top of this but it should never have happened, to begin with.