Trial TV cameras might have focused on acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse, but another person in the courtroom also attracted attention – controversial judge Bruce Schroeder.
The 75-year-old has a reputation for his mix of approachability and a no-nonsense attitude that can make his position brutally clear.
Schroeder, appointed in 1983 and the longest serving circuit judge in Wisconsin, enjoys a good lunch, likes to quote from classic works and has Lee Greenwood’s 1984 patriotic anthem God Bless The USA as his cell phone ringtone.
Legal observers have labelled him 'old school', a man who shoots from the hip and is not worried about public perception.
Judge Bruce Schroeder is seen during Kyle Rittenhouse's trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin
Judge Bruce Schroeder, right, listens as the verdicts are ready by Judicial Assistant Tami Mielcarek in Kyle Rittenhouse's trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse on Friday
Numerous emails are, of course, sent anonymously or using pseudonyms
One email addressed to 'Your Honor' reads, 'I didn't know that under your black robes of justice you wear a white robe of the klan
The hate-filled missives were sent as a direct response to the judge's ruling last month that prosecutors could not refer to Joseph Rosenbaum, Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz - the men shot by Rittenhouse - as 'victims'
Other threatening notes were sent to the judge with one group saying 'we're watching'
Another person, who even gave their name and email address threatened to spit at the judge
Other furious emails were sent to the judge furious at his instruction to not describe the two people who were killed in the case as 'vicitms'
Certainly, his individual way with words backfired publicly during the Rittenhouse trial. And he was attacked for a series of controversial decisions and comments. At times it even appeared his judgments and mannerisms threatened to overshadow the proceedings in front of him.
One of his biggest controversies was dismissing the misdemeanor weapons possession charge over Rittenhouse’s AR-15 rifle, one of the easiest for prosecutors to prove.
He threw it out hours before jurors were due to begin deliberations after the defense lawyers found a loophole from a 1991 bill that allows minors to own rifles that do not have short barrels.
The judge also dramatically halted the trial temporarily to lambast the lead prosecutor after asking the jury to leave the court. Kenosha Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger had veered into a line of inquiry regarding a video allegedly expressing a desire to shoot looters.
The daughter of Judge Bruce Schroeder, seen posing here with her parents Donna and Bruce
Judge Bruce E. Schroeder, 75, defendant Kyle Rittenhouse of Antioch, Illinois and his lead defense lawyer Mark D. Richards look at a screen during the trial
On Thursday Judge Bruce Schroeder revealed that he had been sent offensive emails during the trial, some calling him a racist
Judge Bruce Schroeder goes over the jury instructions with the prosecution and defense during Kyle Rittenhouse's trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse
Married Schroeder blasted: ‘Don’t get brazen with me! You know very well that an attorney can’t go into these types of areas where the judge has already ruled without asking outside the presence of the jury … so don’t give me that.’
The judge, a tough former prosecutor, was attacked even before the trial started for ruling the men Rittenhouse shot should not be described as ‘victims’. He said it was a ‘loaded, loaded word’. Meanwhile he allowed defense lawyers to call them ‘arsonists’ and ‘looters’.
Schroeder was also slammed as a racist and had his life threatened in a torrent of abusive and menacing emails, letters, postcards and faxes received by Kenosha County
