A man who was shot in the bicep by Kyle Rittenhouse during the riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, back in 2020 is speaking out, calling Rittenhouse a "fraud" and saying that his life was negatively impacted by the shooting.
Rittenhouse, who was 17-years-old when he shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and wounded then 26-year-old Paul Prediger, was put on trial and acquitted of all charges related to the shootings after he claimed he opened fire in self-defense.
Witness accounts say Rosenbaum was killed after he confronted Rittenhouse and tried to take his gun. Video shows Huber being shot and killed by Rittenhouse after chasing him down and trying to hit him over the head with a skateboard.
Rittenhouse claimed he showed up to Kenosha to protect businesses during riots that stemmed from protests over the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Also shot alongside Huber was Prediger, who was holding a handgun at the time. Speaking to Newsweek, Prediger said his life has been "pretty sh---y since he was shot. After changing his name due to what he says was post-trial harassment, Prediger said he was able live a somewhat peaceful life until he was hit by a car in a hit-and-run accident, which caused his personal details to be released.
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"I'm traumatized from it still," he said. "I mean, I'm still working through PTSD, depression, anxiety and being able to trust people, and being comfortable in public, frankly."
"People recognize me still. I think I'm much more a man of many faces compared to Kyle Rittenhouse. He's pretty distinguishable; he's got the baby face and all that. I'm still in physical pain, I've learned to work through it. But I'm missing a portion of my arm," he added.
Prediger, who now works as a college instructor, is suing Rittenhouse over the shooting.
"Rittenhouse says that he has PTSD or he has trouble being out in public space, and I don't believe that, because he's been out speaking since he was acquitted," Prediger said. "Everybody processes PTSD differently. I'm not here trying to say that he wasn't affected by what he did. Unless you're just some completely effective sociopath, you'll feel something for having to shoot and kill somebody.
"But I just, I don't know. He had his right to do what he did — what he had to do. But I'm not believing that he was really negatively affected from this. I think Kyle Rittenhouse is the only person who came out on top in this situation. He should have been held accountable. And I'm not just saying that to be biased because he shot me."
When it comes to Rittenhouse being elevated to a 2nd Amendment hero, Prediger suggested that Rittenhouse is just "parroting" the beliefs of others.
"Objectively, I think he's an idiot," Prediger said, adding that "at the end of the day, he's a fraud."
"...In the sense of what does Kyle Rittenhouse even know about gun laws, apart from whatever the adults in his life told him? Whether it's his attorneys or fans or other politicians. I mean, I don't think the kid has an original thought at all, and [is] parroting what he's been told. But that's because this is the only group —you know, right-wing extremists — that will accept him."