Who is Mark Richards? Internet reacts as Kyle Rittenhouse's lawyer reveals Kenosha shooter has lost all his money

In August 2020, during a civil protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Kyle Rittenhouse, who was 17 years old then, shot at three men, two fatally. When acquitted at his trial in November 2021, the shooter testified that he acted in self-defense.

Fast forward to November 20, 2023, Kyle Rittenhouse made headlines after announcing his upcoming book Acquitted on all his social media accounts, triggering an uproar among netizens.

In the wake of this announcement, Mark Richards, the attorney who represented Rittenhouse, in an interview with Court TV said that his former client was near bankruptcy.

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All you need to know about Mark Richards, the former defense attorney of Kyle Rittenhouse

Mark D. Richards is a criminal defense attorney based in Racine, Wisconsin. He has been in the legal business since 1987 and is the founding member of the law firm Richards and Associates S.C., as per its official website, richardslawracine.com. He is also a partner at Richards & Dimmer S.C.

Richards practices in both state and federal courts in Wisconsin and represents clients charged with criminal cases, including homicide, s*xual assault, child p*rnography, drug trafficking, drug possession, domestic violence, burglary and theft, white-collar crimes, and probation revocation, among others. He has also overseen over 100 jury trials.

Kyle Rittenhouse’s former defense attorney attended the University of Wisconsin, Madison. From the same university, he graduated with a B.A. degree in Education and History in 1984, followed by a J.D. degree in 1987 from the university’s law school.

His previous employments include working solely for his firm, Mark D. Richards S.C., between 2013 and 2017. Before that, he was a senior partner from 1995 to 2013 at Richards & Hall, S.C. He was also an assistant district attorney at the Racine County DA’s Office (1989-1990) and Kenosha County DA’s Office (1988-1989). However, Richards’ first ever job was as an associate at Cook & Franke, S.C., from 1987 to 1988.

The 61-year-old lawyer is also a life member of prestigious law associations across the USA, including the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, Wisconsin State Bar, and American Bar Association.

Besides Rittenhouse, Richards has defended notable individuals in the past, including Racine resident Jaime Rojas, who was accused of murdering his wife. Richards helped prove it was a suicide. He also represented Tyler Huffhines and acquitted him from charges of running a black-market vaping operation, as per the New York Times.

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Exploring, in brief, the Kyle Rittenhouse case

In August 2020, a Black man named Jacob Blake was shot multiple times by a white police officer named Rusten Sheskey in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Blake was seriously injured and was paralyzed from the waist down. As per Wisconsin News, the incident happened after the 29-year-old man tried to reach inside the SUV.

Following this incident, which was deemed by many as an instance of police brutality against black lives, a civil demonstration was held the same month when armed 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse fatally shot 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum (a convicted child r*pist) and 26-year-old Anthony Huber with his AR-15 style rifle. Kyle also injured a 26-year-old man named Gaige Grosskreutz.

Rittenhouse was charged with multiple felonies, including first-degree homicide with the use of a dangerous weapon, first-degree reckless homicide with the use of a dangerous weapon, attempted first-degree international homicide with the use of a dangerous weapon, and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety while armed.

However, during his November 2021 trial, he argued that he acted in self-defense. He was acquitted of all the charges after two weeks, including four days of jury deliberation, and was represented by criminal defense attorney Mark Richards.

Recently, Kyle Rittenhouse announced that his new book, Acquitted, containing details of his legal battle, will soon be released. He described it as a “story of survival, resilience, and justice,” thus earning online fury.

However, in the wake of this, Mark Richards said during an interview that his former client had lost all his money, mostly by paying his legal fees.

"He is working, he is trying to support himself. Everybody thinks that Kyle got so much money from this. Whatever money he did get is gone. He's living, I don't want to say paycheck to paycheck, but he's living to support himself,” he told Court TV.

Richards added that as his attorney, he wanted Kyle to do well and “re-engage in his studies” instead of “working full-time” like he is doing now. He also confirmed that Rittenhouse was “living a law-abiding life” and was doing something he “enjoys.”

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Internet reacts to Kyle Rittenhouse’s alleged bankruptcy

As soon as the news of Kyle Rittenhouse having no money became viral, netizens had varied reactions. Here are some of them from the comment section of @WUTangKids’ tweet on the same.

It is noteworthy that Kyle Rittenhouse has previously been open about needing money. He even requested donations to support his legal fees during an appearance on Fox News with Tucker Carlson.

Although he was acquitted of the original criminal charges, he is currently facing civil lawsuits from the man he injured, as well as from the father of one of the two men he fatally shot, as per Newsweek.

The news outlet also stated that in all upcoming civil cases, Richards has made an exception and decided to continue representing Kyle. He even told Court TV that Rittenhouse talked to him before writing his book, and he even perused it before it got printed, saying,

“I have no problem with him writing the book, he lived it, he paid for it, and it’s his story to tell.”

He also added how the upcoming book contained the whole story, with details even he didn’t know.