Judge’s Phone Sounds Off During Rittenhouse Trial, Plays Trump Campaign Song: Report

During the unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020 following the police shooting of the Jacob Blake17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse unloaded shots from a semi-automatic rifle at three protestors, injuring one and killing the other two. More than a year later, Rittenhouse is standing trial in Kenosha, and over the past two weeks, it has been one of the most-talked-about cases in November.

The trial, which wrapped up testimony on Thursday, has been criticized by journalists, average citizens, and celebrities on both ends of the political spectrum, from arguments that Rittenhouse’s trial is being made too political to claims that there has been clear bias toward the defendant.

Judge Bruce Schroeder talks about the juror who attempted to tell a joke to a bailiff during Kyle Rittenhouse's trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse on November 4, 2021 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse is accused of shooting three demonstrators, killing two of them, during a night of unrest that erupted in Kenosha after a police officer shot Jacob Blake seven times in the back while being arrested in August 2020. Rittenhouse, from Antioch, Illinois, was 17 at the time of the shooting and armed with an assault rifle. He faces counts of felony homicide and felony attempted homicide.
Sean Krajacic-Pool/Getty Images

Surprisingly, one of the most controversial figures in the ongoing Rittenhouse trial isn’t even the young man facing several homicide charges. It’s the presiding judge, Bruce Schroeder. Before opening arguments, Judge Schroeder told prosecutors that they would not be allowed to refer to the people that Rittenhouse killed as “victims.” 

Now, footage has surfaced of the judge’s phone going off mid-trial, and many critics have noted that the tune sounds like Donald Trump’s campaign theme song. According to Fox News, the song being played is believed to be Lee Greenwood’s “God Bless The USA,” which is commonly associated with Trump’s campaign rallies.

See the video for yourself below and let us know what you think about the situation. 

[via]