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Wednesday, July 30, 2025

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Rittenhouse Trial: Maurice Freeland Suspected of Being ‘Jump Kick Man’

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Maurice Freeland, a felon with a long criminal history and an open domestic violence charge, is accused of being the mysterious supposedly unidentified man known as “Jump Kick Man” during the Kyle Rittenhouse trial.

Wisconsin Right Now has learned from a law enforcement source in a position to know that prosecutors informed the Rittenhouse defense team only last Thursday, Nov. 11, 2021, as the trial came to an end, that Freeland had come forward claiming to be Jump Kick Man.

Freeland is listed as being in the custody of the Kenosha County Jail as of Nov. 16, 2021. His most recent booking is listed as a probation hold with no bond.

Maurice freeland

It’s not clear when Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger and his boss, DA Mike Graveley, first learned about Freeland’s claims, the source said. Clearly, it would be a much bigger issue if the prosecution knew his identity for longer because the defense might have wanted to call or cross-examine him or track him down and vet the story; Wisconsin Right Now wrote Graveley and Binger and asked them for comment, and neither wrote back.

Our source added additional details, saying that authorities were unable to do effective facial recognition analysis to prove definitively that Freeland was Jump Kick Man because videos and photos don’t show enough of his face, partly because he was masked.

Maurice freeland jump kick man
Jump kick man

WISN 1130 talk radio host Dan O’Donnell first broke the story that prosecutors had identified Jump Kick Man, although he chose not to name him. Our source then provided his name and gave additional details, also confirming O’Donnell’s account that prosecutors told the defense team that Freeland allegedly wanted immunity for an ongoing criminal case, which prosecutor Thomas Binger didn’t grant.

Maurice Freeland was on the streets the night of the Rittenhouse shootings less than two months after getting a plea deal and probation in a domestic abuse case. Binger referred to the men who attacked Rittenhouse as people stopping an “active shooter.”

Jump Kick Man, who delivered a flying kick to Rittenhouse’s head after Rittenhouse fell to the ground, a move caught in some of the most searing imagery in the case, supposedly remained unidentified until the end of the trial; the jury instructions, which charge Rittenhouse with endangering his life, refer to him as an “unknown man.”

Maurice freeland
This is a photo from april 2021 of freeland from facebook.

See the reference to him in jury instructions here:

Maurice freeland jump kick man

Jump Kick Man – as he was referred to by all parties in the court – was never named in court, and he was not called to the stand. The jury went into deliberations thinking his identity was “unknown.” The Rittenhouse jury deliberated for a day without reaching a verdict, concluding at about 5:45 p.m. on Nov. 16, 2021. They will resume deliberations Wednesday morning.

In closing arguments, which took place after our source says Binger told the defense that Freeland claims to be Jump Kick Man, Binger described him this way: “This man that the defense wants to call Jump Kick Man, he’s got no weapons, no gun, no knife, no nothing, comes in and tries to kick the defendant in the face.”

At another spot in closing arguments, Binger told the jury, “And these folks that are coming at him, the Jump Kick Man, Anthony Huber, aren’t armed, they’re not a credible imminent threat to his life…He saw the defendant shoot at Jump Kick Man at close range, miraculously missing… He (Rittenhouse) put jump kick man’s life in jeopardy.

Maurice freeland

Defense attorney Mark Richards, in closing arguments, said, “Count three, Jump Kick Man, the uncomplaining unidentified witness in count three…Jump kick man comes in, kicks him in the face, spins his body 180 degrees…Even Gaige Grosskreutz said he was concerned about the blows that Jump Kick Man and Anthony Huber were inflicting on Kyle’s head…We saw video earlier of this individual starting the Duramax on fire right here, jump kick man.” He came up multiple times in both closing arguments but never by name.

Freeland has several Facebook pages. His most recent is in the name of Maurice Gohard Freeland and says he also goes by the name King Reese. It doesn’t have much on it that’s visible. Both prosecutors in the case, Thomas Binger and James Kraus, handled some of his previous court hearings on other charges, and he has appeared before Judge Bruce Schroeder in a past case also, according to court records.

Maurice freeland

He’s no stranger to the DA’s office – including Rittenhouse’s prosecution team – or the system.

Maurice freeland

We hit the streets of Racine and Kenosha, Wisconsin, on the night of November 16, 2021, knocking on the doors of four addresses attached to Freeland and his soon-to-be ex-wife to see if we could learn more. Freeland has long ties to Kenosha. One address was only a block from the courthouse and a few blocks from the Rittenhouse shooting scenes; it was listed as his current address in a small claims case as of November 15, 2021. No one appeared home, and two men hanging out in a nearby yard didn’t know who he was.

Maurice freeland jump kick manOn the afternoon of Nov. 16, the jail’s inmate database was down for maintenance, so we called the jail. A jail official said they couldn’t look him up because their computer was down but that he wasn’t in jail the day before. Our source said he might be out of state now. However, the jail inmate database went back up later in the day on Nov. 16, and he’s now listed as being in custody.

We will continue trying to get his side of the story (if you know Maurice Freeland, write us at [email protected]).

A man who lived at one of the homes for three years said the residence had a new door because the last one was kicked in because a “drug dealer” had lived there, but he didn’t recognize Freeland’s name. A woman at a Racine address attached to him in recent court records said she wasn’t in contact with him anymore, and she wouldn’t open the door of her home, which had a Black Lives Matter sticker on the window. At first, she didn’t seem surprised to hear he’s being accused of being Jump Kick Man, but then she said she didn’t know anything about it. Through social media, we wrote Maurice Freeland, his soon-to-be ex-wife, a woman close to him, but received no response.

Maurice Freeland has open charges for drunk driving with a passenger under 16, disorderly conduct with a domestic abuse modifier, and marijuana possession. The case was filed in June 2021, in Kenosha County. He’s out on a $1,500 signature bond. Court records say he was in court for a status conference in that case on October 29, 2021, and he had just been released from custody.

Jump Kick Man

Jump Kick Man is a critical figure because Rittenhouse is facing a serious charge relating to allegedly shooting at, and missing, him. His attorneys argue that Rittenhouse acted in self-defense. Rittenhouse shot and killed Anthony Huber a few seconds later; Huber was hitting him with a skateboard and trying to grab his gun when he opened fire. Then, Gaige Grosskreutz, per his own testimony, moved toward Rittenhouse while pointing a gun at him, and Rittenhouse shot him.

During opening statements, Binger called him “the unknown individual.”

During opening statements, Binger said this about Jump Kick Man: “An individual who is the subject of count number two, the unknown individual, runs in at that point and attempts to kick the defendant in the face while the defendant is on the ground. This unknown individual is unarmed. The defendant, in response, points his AR-15 directly at this individual as this individual is literally flying over his body, and discharges that gun twice.”

In the case shortly before the Rittenhouse shootings, Maurice Freeland was convicted of domestic abuse battery, a misdemeanor. Other charges were dismissed or read in, in exchange for his guilty plea in a plea agreement. Binger was the attorney for the state at his March 23, 2020, initial appearance. On June 29, 2020, Judge Mary Kay Wagner sentence Maurice Freeland to 12 months probation.

That was less than two months before the Rittenhouse shootings.

There was a probation review hearing on March 11, 2021. He was kept on probation with DV programming by Judge David Wilk. His probation was extended six months.

His probation was revoked on August 16, 2021, and he was sentenced to seven months in the Kenosha County Jail with Huber privileges and 77 days credit.

In 2018, he was cited for disorderly conduct in Kenosha County, and, in 2017 and 2016, he was convicted of misdemeanor disorderly conduct, also in Kenosha County.

There was a petition for child support filed against him in 2016. Court records, in that case, refer to him being in custody.

He has several past evictions.

Maurice Freeland’s Criminal Record

  • In 2013, he was convicted of THC possession as a repeater, a felony, and misdemeanor obstructing an officer, as a repeater. He received local jail time.
  • In 2010, he had another forfeiture for disorderly conduct in a different court.
  • In 2009, he was convicted of taking and driving a car without owner’s consent, a felony, and obstructing an officer as a repeater, a misdemeanor.
  • He was subjected to a paternity case in 2009.
  • In 2008, he was convicted of felony escape.
  • In 2008, he was also convicted of two felony counts of misappropriating ID.
  • In 2007 and in 2003, he was convicted of misdemeanor THC possession.
  • He was convicted of escape, a felony, in 2000.
  • Read his Kenosha County jail history here.
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Border Patrol Agents Continue to Arrest Iranians, Weapons Traffickers at Northern Border

At the northern border, Border Patrol agents continue to arrest Iranians and weapons traffickers and are helping seize record amounts of fentanyl.

While illegal border crossings are down at the northern border under the Trump administration, Border Patrol agents in the busiest northern border Swanton Sector are continuing to interdict crime. The sector includes all of Vermont, six upstate New York counties, and three New Hampshire counties.

Earlier this month, Border Patrol Agents from the Champlain Station in New York responded to a report of suspicious activity near Mooers Forks, New York. Upon arrival, they located a minivan occupied by five Iranian citizens and two Uzbekistan citizens – all adult men in the country illegally.

Border Patrol agents then determined all seven men “had previously illegally entered the United States at various locations along both the U.S./Mexico border and the U.S./Canada border,” Swanton Sector Chief Border Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said. They were detained and are being processed for removal.

“Border security is national security and directly correlates to public safety,” Garcia said, adding that “Swanton Sector agents remain vigilant and committed to protecting our borders and enforcing immigration laws.”

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers are also arresting Iranians in the country illegally, including Revolutionary Guard soldiers, after more than 1,500 Iranians illegally entered the U.S. under the Biden administration, with more than 700 released into the U.S., The Center Square exclusively reported.

In another instance, Border Patrol agents notified the New York State Police about a suspected driver of a vehicle allegedly involved in smuggling activity in upstate New York. State troopers responded, located and stopped the vehicle near Albany, Garcia said. A subsequent vehicle search resulted in a seizure of roughly 4.7 pounds of powdered fentanyl, enough to kill more than one million people.

“This seizure is a powerful reminder of why strong partnerships between federal, state, and local law enforcement are vital to our national security and public safety,” Swanton Sector Chief Patrol Agent Robert Garcia said.

In another instance, Border Patrol agents helped ATF federal partners apprehend a criminal foreign national wanted for weapons trafficking. Honduran national Yubert Yasiel Lopez-Lopez, 31, was arrested in North Attleboro, Mass., after he illegally reentered the country after he was previously deported.

He was first apprehended in 2014 after illegally entering the U.S. in Hidalgo, Texas, under the Obama administration. A federal immigration judge in Houston ordered his removal, which occurred four years later under the first Trump administration. In 2022, he again illegally entered the country in Yuma, Arizona, under the Biden administration. It took another three years to arrest him, this time in Massachusetts, with authorities learning he was wanted in Honduras on weapons trafficking charges. A federal grand jury indicted him last month in Vermont, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont announced. He faces up to two years in prison if convicted and removal from the U.S. for a third time.

“We continue to enforce federal immigration laws and seek maximum consequences against those who violate them,” Garcia said.

Garcia also regularly thanks members of the public for supporting Border Patrol efforts, sometimes acting as the eyes and ears for agents in rural areas by calling in sightings of illegal border crossers or suspicious activity. He continues to encourage members of the public to report suspicious border activity in the Swanton Sector by calling 1-800-689-3362.

The sector was hit hard under the Biden administration with illegal border crossings from Canada reaching record levels, totaling nearly one million, according to CBP data and gotaway data exclusively reported by The Center Square. The greatest number ever reported in U.S. history in the sector was in fiscal 2024 of nearly 200,000, excluding those who evaded capture, The Center Square reported.

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Wisconsin Republicans Introduce Bill to Repeal Evers’ 400-Year Veto

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin state legislators have started circulating a bill to repeal Gov. Tony Evers’ 400-year school funding veto.

Evers’ veto in July 2023, which turned a temporary $325 per student K-12 funding increase – originally slated for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 school years – into a permanent increase through the year 2425, was recently upheld by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in April, The Center Square previously reported.

However, the court’s ruling suggested lawmakers could still draft legislation as a recourse to the governor’s partial veto, and Republicans are seeking to do just that.

“The pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock 402 years before this veto. It is hard to justify locking in a funding increase for just as long into the future,” the bill’s four co-authors said in a cosponsorship memo circulating at the state Capitol, WPR reported.

The bill would effectively reverse Evers’ 400-year veto, eliminating the $325 per pupil adjustment in the school district revenue limit formula beginning with the 2026-27 school year.

“One man locked in a tax-raising mechanism that no one voted for and no one approved,” the cosponsorship memo reads. “Evers’ move bypassed both the elected Legislature and the hard-working people who pay the bills.”

However, if the bill passes both chambers of the Legislature, it would ironically require Evers to not veto it in order to become law.

While the Senate had voted to override Evers’ original veto in September 2023, the Assembly never held a vote on the override, so the effort failed and the veto stood.

Will Flanders, the research director at Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, previously wrote, “The Governor is not a king, even if the state Supreme Court says he is. Given this increase, the legislature should fight hard against any further increases for public schools that are now set up for a boondoggle.”

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Wisconsin Cities, Counties Saw Drop in June Unemployment Rate

(The Center Square) – Wisconsin saw the June unemployment rate go down in 24 of the state’s largest 35 cities over the month while the rates lowered in 63 counties and stayed the same in eight more, according to new numbers from the state’s Department of Workforce Development.

Wisconsin’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate went down to 3.2% in June, less than the 4.1% national rate.

Wisconsin’s labor force participation rate went down to 65.1% in June while the national rate decreased slightly to 62.3%.

Wisconsin saw 10 of its largest metropolitan areas show unemployment decreases while three of those areas remained the same. Twelve of the metropolitan areas saw unemployment decreases over the year while the rate in Sheboygan remained the same.

Menominee, meanwhile, was the only county that saw a month over month increase in unemployment rate while the rate increased in just four counties year over year.

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Tulsi Gabbard Releases New Intel Claiming FBI, CIA ‘Knowingly created’ Russia Hoax

Federal officials have released more documents indicating a Democratic-led intelligence community politically targeted President Donald Trump by claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin influenced the 2016 presidential election to help Trump win.

U.S. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard declassified a 2020 House Intelligence Committee report Wednesday that “exposes how the Obama Administration manufactured the January 2017 Intelligence Community Assessment that they knew was false.”

“The Russia Hoax was a lie that was knowingly created by the Obama Administration to undermine the legitimacy and power of the duly elected President of the United States, Donald Trump,” Gabbard posted on X.

Notably, the report found that the majority of the intelligence community’s judgements on Russia’s confirmed attempts to meddle with the 2016 election were “sound,” including its findings that Putin ordered “conventional and cyber influence operations” to undermine faith in the U.S. democratic process and the legitimacy of an expected Hillary Clinton presidency.

However, further judgments from the intelligence community alleging that Putin “developed a clear preference for candidate Trump” and “aspired to help his chances of victory” were not only false but also the result of apparent bad faith, the oversight investigation reveals.

To reach their conclusion that Putin had attempted to help Trump win, top intelligence officials cherry-picked inconclusive information that supported the narrative, omitted or suppressed information contradicting the narrative, and based their “high confidence” assumptions on untrustworthy and dishonest sources.

The report builds upon other documents that Gabbard declassified over the weekend showing that Obama, along with his senior advisors, reportedly pressured the intelligence community to contrive evidence that Russia intended to manipulate the vote count in Trump’s favor.

The Trump administration believes these efforts amounted to a “coup” meant to delegitimize the results of the 2016 election and cast doubts on Trump’s presidency.

Rep. Rick Crawford, R-Ark., said Wednesday that the “Russia hoax will go down as one of the most troublesome events in U.S. history” that caused the country to become “more polarized than ever before.”

“A President of the United States was falsely accused, and a nation had to endure lies fabricated by rogue personnel within their own Intelligence Community,” Crawford said on X. “There are still Americans who passionately believe the fabricated narrative. That is why releasing this document to the public has been so important.”

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2026 GOP Candidate Josh Schoemann Challenges Evers’ Budget Approach

(The Center Square) – Josh Schoemann, the only Republican currently in the race for governor next year, is criticizing Gov. Tony Evers’ approach to the next state budget by comparing it to his plans in Washington County.

“In Washington County our budget cycle starts right now, and it’s not due until November. We will propose our budget goals to the County Board in the next couple of months. We will share ‘This is what we’re thinking.’ It gives them months of time to think those through, give us feedback, and [have] that kind of dialogue,” Schoemann explained in an interview on News Talk 1130 WISN.

Schoemann said that is far better than the approach Evers is taking again this year.

“That’s not how government is supposed to work,” Schoemann said. “It’s not the vision of the governor. It’s not the vision of any one person.”

Evers and the Republican legislative leaders who will write the budget have been involved in on-again, off-again budget talks this month. On Thursday, the governor’s office said those talks were off once again because of gridlock in the Senate.

“Ultimately, the Senate needs to decide whether they were elected to govern and get things done or not,” Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said in a post on X.

Schoemann’s criticism of Evers is nothing new. He has long been a critic of the governor and has turned that criticism up since launching his campaign for governor.

But the recent criticism was also aimed at other Republicans who may jump into the 20206 governor’s race later this year.

“Nobody else in this race on the Republican side, being rumored to this point, has the executive leadership of skills and history to be able to show ‘This is how I’ve done it before, and here’s how we’ll do it Madison,’” Schoemann said. “The results in Washington County speak for themselves.”

Northwoods Congressman Tom Tiffany is also rumored to be looking to get into the Republican race. Before he went to Congress, Tiffany was a Republican lawmaker in Madison.

Businessman and veteran Bill Berrien is also on the short list of likely GOP candidates for 2026.

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