Video of Kyle Rittenhouse Crying Viewed Over 2 Million Times

A clip of Kenosha murder suspect Kyle Rittenhouse breaking down in tears while on the stand has been viewed online more than 2.3 million times.

The 18-year-old gave evidence for the first time on Wednesday in the divisive case, with the proceedings needing to take a break as Rittenhouse began hyperventilating while giving his testimony.

The defendant started crying while describing to the jury the circumstances that led up to him killing Joseph Rosenbaum in August 2020. Later that night, Rittenhouse also shot and killed Antony Huber and injured Gaige Grosskreutz during the Black Lives Matter protests in the Wisconsin city.

Giving evidence, Rittenhouse described how protester Joshua Ziminski approached him with a pistol in his hand, causing him to drop a fire extinguisher he was carrying to help put out the blazes that broke out during the protests.

Rittenhouse then said he planned to "get out of that situation," but wasn't able to.

"I look over my shoulder and Mr. Rosenbaum was now running from my right side and I was cornered..in front of me with Ziminski...there were people...."

At this point, Rittenhouse was unable to speak because he was hyperventilating, prompting his attorney Mark Richards to tell his client "Take a deep breath, Kyle."

Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder then suggested that the case take a 10-minute break.

When Rittenhouse's testimony continued, the 18-year-old said he never intended to kill anyone that night in Kenosha and that he was merely acting in self-defense, an argument that has become the key focus point in the trial.

Rittenhouse testified that he shot Rosenbaum after he lunged toward him and put his hand on the barrel of Rittenhouse's semi-automatic rifle. The defendant said he fired at Huber after he was attacked with a skateboard before turning and firing at Grosskreutz because he was pointing a pistol at his head.

"I intended to stop the people who were attacking me," Rittenhouse said. "I did what I had to do to stop the person who was attacking me.

"I didn't know it was going to kill them, but I used deadly force to stop the threat."

Elsewhere during the trial, prosecutor Thomas Binger got Rittenhouse to admit that he wasn't a trained medic, despite telling reporters that night that he was.

The defense argued that Rittenhouse didn't travel from his hometown of Antioch, Illinois, to Kenosha in order to cause violence, but to provide medical assistance and protect the city from the protesters.

"You're not a certified EMT [Emergency Medical Technician], you're not an EMT of any kind, you weren't on that night, correct?" Binger asked after playing a clip of Rittenhouse making the claim, to which Rittenhouse replied "yes."

When asked if this meant he lied, Rittenhouse said: "I told him I was an EMT, but I wasn't."

Binger also questioned why Rittenhouse shot and killed the unarmed Rosenbaum when it was Ziminski who had a pistol.

"You don't get to shoot someone else because someone else has a gun, right?" Binger asked, to which the defendant agreed.