Warning: This live video may contain violent and/or disturbing images with strong language. Viewer discretion is advisedThe trial for a man charged with killing two men and wounding a third with an assault-style rifle during protests last summer began Tuesday morning in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Kyle Rittenhouse, now 18, formerly of Antioch, Illinois, has been charged with six felonies and one misdemeanor.He has pleaded not guilty by self-defense in the August 2020 shootings of three men as protests ensued after the police shooting of Jacob Blake.Two of those victims died.Witness: Martin HowardKenosha Police Detective Martin Howard is on the witness stand.He was assigned to surveillance in squad cars to watch crowds on the night of Aug. 25.Howard said he went to gas stations to shut off pumps to prevent arsons.He testified he was also stationed near the interstate off ramps, looking for groups of cars getting off in Kenosha, possibly with license plates removed.Howard is one of the lead detectives on the homicide case.A lot of jurors were taking vigorous notes as Howard is on the stand.Howard testified about when he went to interview Rittenhouse after he turned himself into police in Antioch, Illinois.He said Rittenhouse had a few cuts, scrapes, and small bumps on the head.Prosecutor Thomas Binger showed the jury another livestream video from TheRundownLive but the defense objected to audio from the man recording the video, saying it's editorialization.The judge said the defendant's statements are allowed. Witness: Koerri WashingtonThe prosecution's third witness was self-described social media influencer Koerri Washington, of Kenosha.He began his testimony Tuesday afternoon."In my opinion, people like myself make things better for everyone because it helps show another side of the full picture," Washington said.He said he followed the protests after the Blake shooting to document what happened.The jury watched as the prosecution played a portion of Washington's Facebook Live video from the night of Aug. 25.His video shows a crowd yelling at a group of armed men, including Rittenhouse, who was smoking a cigarette while holding the AR-15.Washington's testimony continued Wednesday morning.Jurors began the day watching two monitors just outside the jury box as prosecutors seek to enter extensive video they say will support their case. Just before the trial started, Rittenhouse's mother, Wendy Rittenhouse, walked over to her son at the defense table to speak with him and a lawyer.Rittenhouse, in a blue suit and tie, hunched forward at the defense table to watch the same video as jurors on a desktop screen.Many jurors jotted down extensive notes when testimony turned to levels of violence at the Kenosha protests.They seemed especially attentive when a defense attorney during a cross-examination displayed video of dozens of cars ablaze in a Car Source lot the day before the shootings, orange flames billowing above the business.For their part, prosecutors have emphasized an absence of deadly violence in Kenosha, other than from Rittenhouse, on the day he shot three protesters.

The trial continued Tuesday for a former youth sports coach on trial for sex crimes involving children.Eric Schmidt is charged with one count of rape, two counts of gross sexual imposition and two counts of public indecency.Tuesday's testimony centered around text messages one of the accusers sent to friends the night she claims she was molested.That accuser is 19 years old, but she was 12 in 2015 — the year prosecutors say crimes against her were committed.The teenager said she was friends with Schmidt's daughter and was at their house for a sleepover in April 2015.During her testimony, she read text messages she sent to friends that night from Schmidt's home in Mason."I said, 'I really don't understand why you find that funny. No, seriously, it's a remarried man trying to rape a freaking 12-year-old kid," the accuser said. She said Schmidt exposed himself and touched her inappropriately in the theatre room of the house after his daughter fell asleep.Assistant prosecutor Travis Vieux asked her, "Did the defendant touch your hand?""Yes," she said.Vieux asked, "Did he touch your arm?""Yes," she said.Vieux asked, "Did he rub up your arm?""Yes," she said.Vieux asked, "Did he touch your shoulder?""Yes," she said.Vieux asked, "Did he touch your breast?""Yes," she said. While prosecutors are trying to use the accuser's texts as proof that Schmidt is guilty of gross sexual imposition and public indecency, defense attorneys tried using the messages to their advantage. During cross-examination, defense attorney Bill Gallagher asked, "Eric is trying to touch you?""Yes," she said.Gallagher asked, "You don't yell, right?""No," she said.Gallagher asked, "You said you just sort of froze?" "Yes," she said."Gallagher questioned how could she be frozen at the same time she carried on text message conversations with multiple friends."Does it shock you at all, in all of your text messaging in here, there's not a single spelling mistake, but you're stressed out and trying to figure out what to do?" Gallagher said."It's called autocorrect," the accuser said. Mason Detective Jeff Wyss also took the stand Tuesday. He said he began to investigate the 2015 allegations, but the case was closed when the accuser's family decided not to pursue charges.That case was reopened in 2019 after a second accuser, also 12 at the time, made allegations against Schmidt.He's been charged with rape in that case.Prosecutors said that accuser was sexually assaulted at a party for football families in the Kings and Mason area. Schmidt had coached youth football, baseball and softball.That girl is 14 years old now and is expected to testify Wednesday.Before calling her to the stand, prosecutors called a relative of Schmidt's to testify about what she said she witnessed in January 2015 when she was temporarily staying with the family.She was 19 years old at the time.She said she was alone with Schmidt watching Vampire Diaries when he suggested they watch the show downstairs.She said they relocated to the theater room and continued watching Netflix.Vieux asked her to describe what Schmidt did that she thought to be sexually inappropriate."When we were watching Netflix, after some time, the notice on the Netflix screen says 'Do you wish to continue? Click yes or no.' That had popped up. I looked to my right to see if the remote was near me to click yes. It wasn't there. I had turned to my left and Mr. Schmidt was sitting there with his genitals out," the relative said. Schmidt has not been charged with any crime in connection to that incident.Schmidt maintains his innocence. Gallagher previously said Schmidt passed a polygraph test.

A teen girl died Saturday after getting struck by lightning at a Georgia beach.Witnesses saw the incident, which happened at Tybee Island on Saturday afternoon."It was scary. I will never say the odds of getting struck by lighting is slim," said Dylan Pope, who was at Tybee Island near 17th Street when he heard a big boom. “We saw one big bolt. Nobody knew someone got hit,” Pope said.A 15-year-old girl visiting from Alabama was struck by lightning. She died from her injuries, officials said. "People were either in a panic, they were running off the beach, two people ran down to try and give her CPR," Pope said. Barabara Loyd was also visiting Tybee Island when the lighting struck."It shook the beach ground,” Loyd said the thunderstorm came out of nowhere "There was no sign, I didn’t even get a notification from my weather app.”Brandi Sheridan is another witness who saw the lightning strike and she said, "It was horrible to see. The lightning bolt seemed to come out of nowhere. We were all leaving the beach. This was truly just a freak occurrence. We spoke to a lifeguard who said he’s been a lifeguard on this beach for over five years and in that time no one has been struck by lightning. My heart breaks for them."According to the National Weather Service, lightning killed an average of 27 people each year between 2009 and 2018.