Saturday, April 26, 2025
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Saturday, April 26, 2025

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Kyle Rittenhouse Fire Extinguisher Provoked Rosenbaum Anger: Witnesses

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Update: A Wisconsin jury found Rittenhouse not guilty of all charges on Nov. 19, 2021. Read our story on the verdict here. Read all of our Rittenhouse exclusives here.

The criminal complaint charging Kyle Rittenhouse with two counts of homicide leaves out a key point: Why Joseph Rosenbaum, a convicted sex offender, was chasing the 17-year-old in the first place.

Two eyewitnesses interviewed by Wisconsin Right Now say Rosenbaum was enraged because Rittenhouse, and others, were using fire extinguishers to put out an arson fire in a dumpster that Rosenbaum, and others, were trying to push toward police squad cars.

They also believe that Rosenbaum may have been determined to rob Rittenhouse because the teenager seemed like the “weak” member of the herd and had walked off by himself. They think this because they say Rosenbaum, 36, “intricately” tied his shirt around his face, they believed to conceal his identity. Whether that would have been the case is obviously an unknown, but it was their perception.

The two eyewitnesses, Justice and Dylan Putnam, were willing to put their names to it. Videos also back up pieces of what they told us. There’s video of Rittenhouse with the fire extinguisher, video of Rosenbaum pushing the burning dumpster, and, of course, video of Rosenbaum chasing Rittenhouse down and cornering him behind a car before Rittenhouse opened fire.

“Kyle took a fire extinguisher from someone,” said Justice Putnam, who added that she saw him trying to put out the arson fire in the dumpster. “That started the altercation.”

https://twitter.com/Bollocks_Dogz/status/1300221851197726728

She said Rosenbaum was angry at Rittenhouse and other armed men who were trying to put the fire out with fire extinguishers. “Rosenbaum was arguing. He said, ‘Why did you do that?'” she said. She said the people associated with BLM or Antifa “started throwing stuff at us. Bricks, metal.” They were using hammers to get chunks of the curbs to throw, she said (we observed chipped away curbs in Kenosha).

Earlier in the day, Rittenhouse, who had worked as a community lifeguard in Kenosha, was seen cleaning graffiti off buildings.

UPDATE: Wisconsin Right Now has obtained video evidence that Rosenbaum had a chain in his hand just prior to the fatal shooting, See here.

Video that captured Rosenbaum pushing the dumpster fire shows multiple people with fire extinguishers.


The Putnams Say Rosenbaum Was ‘Irate’ About People Putting Out the Dumpster Fire

Joseph rosenbaum sex offender
Joseph rosenbaum

Joseph Rosenbaum had accrued quite a criminal record before he chased Rittenhouse down. He was convicted of molesting and being sexually inappropriate toward children in Arizona (the criminal complaint in Arizona accuses him of the anal rape of young boys). That landed him on the Wisconsin sex offender registry when he moved here. He had open cases for domestic abuse battery and bail jumping at the time of his death.

According to Justice Putnam, who was present at the scene that night, Rosenbaum was “irate and looking for some kind of altercation.” Video also bears this out; there’s video showing Rosenbaum aggressively confronting another person in a gas station parking lot shortly before the shooting and using the “N” word. The Putnams say he accused them of “pointing a rifle at him.”

Kyle rittenhouse fire extinguisherJustice Putnam said she believes that Rittenhouse “came by himself,” as opposed to being part of the group of armed men who were in the gas station parking lot with lines of fire extinguishers to put out arson fires. (Multiple Kenosha businesses had burned to the ground in riots the night before. An elderly business owner was beaten by a rioter as he tried to defend his business by himself. There is video showing Rittenhouse hanging out with some of those armed men earlier that night; a local business owner told us Rittenhouse was among men hired by a business owner to protect his car dealership after another burned and because the police weren’t protecting businesses.)

The Putnams said the video of the elderly business owner compelled them to come to Kenosha to also do what they could to protect local businesses since it appeared the police weren’t intervening to do so at that point.

He was “so, so angry,” she said of Rosenbaum. They believed he was angry because people, including Rittenhouse, were trying to put out the arson fire (the fire and pushing it toward police would be a crime).

The Putnams both said there was a dumpster on fire and that people, including Rosenbaum, were trying to push it toward squad cars.

“Kyle was the only one who walked off with a gun,” Justice Putnam said.

Dylan Putnam described how he saw Rosenbaum “intricately wrapping” his red shirt around his head to “conceal his identity. He was probably going to rob him,” he believed. “He (Rittenhouse) looked like the weakest member of the group.”

Video also documents that Rosenbaum did have his shirt tied around his head.

Kyle rittenhouse fire extinguisher

The Putnams saw Rittenhouse “walking around and offering medical assistance” before the shooting. “He just wanted to help so bad,” said Justice Putnam.

Prosecutors have a different view. They think it’s homicide. Read the criminal complaint here.

Ultimately a jury may be asked to decide.

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Trump Expands Gulf of America Oil & Natural Gas Production

Reversing Biden administration policies that halted offshore leasing, prompting lawsuits and restricting oil and natural gas development, the Trump administration is expanding offshore capabilities.

Interior Secretary Doug Burgum directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to hold the administration’s first offshore lease sales in the Gulf of America, with the first proposed notice of sale slated for June.

“By continuing to expand offshore capabilities, the United States ensures affordable energy for consumers, strengthens domestic industry and reinforces its role as an energy superpower,” the Interior Department says. “Opening the Outer Continental Shelf is central to this strategy as it unleashes domestic energy potential that had been blocked under the previous administration,” and is expected to generate tens of thousands of high-paying jobs throughout the industry.

The BOEM also released a new analysis stating that a significant increase of estimated oil and natural gas reserves exists in the Gulf of America Outer Continental Shelf. BOEM’s updated assessment evaluated more than 140 oil and natural gas fields, identifying 18 new discoveries, and analyzed more than 37,000 reservoirs across 1,336 fields in the Gulf.

It says there’s an “additional 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent since 2021, bringing the total reserve estimate to 7.04 billion barrels of oil equivalent. This includes 5.77 billion barrels of oil and 7.15 trillion cubic feet of natural gas – a 22.6% increase in remaining recoverable reserves.”

“This new data confirms what we’ve known all along – America is sitting on a treasure trove of energy, and under President Trump’s leadership, we’re unlocking it,” Burgum said. “The Gulf of America is a powerhouse, and by streamlining permitting and expanding access, we’re not just powering our economy – we’re strengthening our national security and putting thousands of Americans back to work.”

The comprehensive review added 4.39 billion barrels of oil equivalent in original reserves, BOEM found. “After subtracting production of 3.09 billion barrels of oil equivalent since 2020–2021, the net increase reflects continued opportunity and momentum in offshore development,” it says.

“The Gulf of America is delivering 14% of the nation’s oil,” BOEM Gulf of America Regional Director Dr. James Kendall said. “These updated estimates reaffirm the Gulf’s vital role in ensuring a reliable, affordable domestic energy supply.”

The BOEM oversees nearly 3.2 billion acres of the Outer Continental Shelf, with roughly 160 million acres located in the Gulf.

“Energy dominance is a pillar of U.S. economic strength and global leadership,” the Interior Department argues. “By expanding offshore capabilities, the United States ensures affordable energy for consumers, creates high-paying jobs, and reduces dependence on foreign adversaries. … Expanded leasing is projected to create tens of thousands of jobs across exploration, production, logistics and supply chains — revitalizing coastal economies and fueling American innovation.”

Shell Offshore Inc., a subsidiary of Shell plc, also announced it is beginning production at Dover, a second subsea tieback connecting new wells to existing infrastructure of its Appomattox production hub in the Gulf of America. Dover’s estimated peak production is 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, it says.

Shell is the leading deep-water operator in the Gulf of America; Dover was discovered under the first Trump administration in 2018.

It’s located in Mississippi Canyon, roughly 170 miles offshore southeast of New Orleans.

Shell estimates that Dover will “contain 44.5 million barrels of oil equivalent recoverable resources, adding stable, secure energy resources.”

Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas activities have generated billions of dollars in revenue from lease sales, rental fees and royalties to the federal government and states, helping to fund infrastructure, education and public services and wildlife conservation. They also help strengthen U.S. energy independence, national security and global stability, by reducing reliance on foreign producers, the Trump administration argues.

Offshore production in the Gulf of America accounts for the third greatest volume in the country, of nearly 1.8 million barrels of oil per day, according to Energy Information Agency data from January. The greatest volume is produced in the Permian Basin in west Texas, which leads the U.S. in oil and natural gas production, The Center Square reported.

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