Gaige Grosskreutz

"I NEED A MEDIC!" -Gaige after getting smoked by Rittenhouse

**Gaige Paul Grosskreutz** (born April 11, 1993) is an emergency medical technician and social activist who attempted to disarm Kyle Rittenhouse on the night of August 25th, 2020. He was shot in the arm and survived. He was later questioned in RIttenhouse's 2021 trial.

## Gaige Grosskreutz

### Relatives

A brother
Rebecca Volkman (sister)
Janice Grosskreutz (grandmother)

## Background

### Early life

Gaige was born in West Allis, Wisconsin and spent his childhood shuffling between different cities in the state, including Hales Corners, La Crosse, Ashland, and Milwaukee. As a child, he was inspired by the medical industry and took notes of things his grandmother, a nurse, taught him. He graduated West Allis Central High School in 2012, where he was described as a student with good grades. His activism began during his freshman year there, when he attended a LGBTQ+ rights march. In 2013, Gaige enrolled at Milwaukee Area Technical College, where he completed his EMT training course in 2016. At the time of the shooting, he was studying outdoor education at Northland College in Ashland, having obtained a degree in administation before his projected graduation in late 2020.

He previously worked as a kayaking instructor, events coordinator and tour guide for an outdoor outfitter. He was planning to work in a wilderness therapy program, though his arm injury had now prevented him from doing such.

### Activism

Gaige has engaged in activism since 2009 and had been participating in several previous Black Lives Matter protests in wake of the overdose death of George Floyd, where he had offered medical assistance. He is an affiliate of the Milwaukee-based People's Revolution group. The organization was controversial due to its involvement in the 2020 assault of police officer Joseph Mensah, who was reinstated after being cleared of murder charges following three shooting deaths, most notably that of Jay Anderson Jr. in 2016.

### Criminal history

In 2010, he was arrested as a juvenile after he slapped his grandmother and smashed a lamp during a domestic dispute. In 2012, he was charged with, but not convicted of, a felony for burglary after attempting to sell three video game consoles he had stolen from a friend's home after a party. In 2013, he was reported to have smashed a window of where his ex-girlfriend lived, and threatened her. In 2015, he reportedly was drunk driving with a firearm. In 2019, he reportedly refused to show his ID to officers. On August 17, 2020, he was charged with loitering, as well as videotaping attending police officers without permission. Reportedly, he was also noted for noise complaints and trespassing on unspecified dates.

At the time of the protest, Gaige was carrying a Glock pistol on his person, even though his concealed carry permit had expired.

### Kenosha shooting

Gaige attended the Kenosha protests as a monitor, acting on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, while providing first aid to participants in case of injury after arriving with members of the People's Revolution. He was treating a protester injured by a rubber projectile when he overheard the gunshots that killed Joseph Rosenbaum, shortly after which Rittenhouse came running in his direction, pursued by numerous protesters who had witnessed the shooting. Gaige joined the chase, and unsuccessfully attempted to question Rittenhouse as he fled. Gaige then witnessed as Rittenhouse, having been knocked to the ground by Maurice Freeland, shot Anthony Huber as he was hitting Rittenhouse with a skateboard. By then, Gaige was approaching Rittenhouse and had pulled out his gun, initially having ordered Huber to stop his attack, but held his hands up, gun still in hand and pointed upwards, when the fatal shot was fired. Rittenhouse aimed his weapon at him, at which point Gaige, around 4 feet away from Rittenhouse, trained his pistol at him, his finger not on the trigger, and was shot through the arm by Rittenhouse in response, almost completely destroying his right biceps. He instructed a protester on how to tourniquet the wound. A counter protester, Jason Lackowski, later testified he had checked Gaige's gun and found one bullet chambered before he also went to assist him.

Gaige underwent reconstructive surgery at three different hospitals, where amputation was considered for numerous weeks, and months of physical therapy.

During the trial, Gaige testified that although he had the opportunity to fire at Rittenhouse before approaching him, he cited moral beliefs as the reason why he didn't and tried to reach out to him instead. He also believed that Rittenhouse had pulled the trigger on him, but that the rifle had jammed, as he was racking the slide. Gaige's lawyer argued that this would indicate that Rittenhouse had not been acting out of sheer panic in fear for his life. Defense attorney Mark Richards also pointed out that both parties were armed, while Rittenhouse was, at the time, regarded as an active shooter, meaning that the gun in Gaige's hand would not have warranted the shot. Rittenhouse continued to claim self-defense, as he was in a vulerable position and didn't know what Gaige's intentions were with the handgun.

## 2023 Hit-and-run

On September 2, 2023, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Grosskreutz was struck down by a car at 9:00 PM in a hit-and-run case. He suffered a lacerated liver, broken ribs, and a broken wrist. Grosskreutz stated, "I went on top of the hood, and then was dragged under and stuck underneath the vehicle for a good 20 feet."[1]

The driver, identified as 30-year-old Marvin Thomas has been charged with felony hit-and-run causing great bodily harm, and felony knowingly operating a motor vehicle while license is revoked, causing great bodily harm. He admitted to being the driver and told Police he was "sorry".

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 https://https://conandaily.com/2021/11/19/gaige-grosskreutz-biography-13-things-about-west-allis-wisconsin-man-kyle-rittenhouse-shot/
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 https://eu.rrstar.com/story/news/2020/09/12/i-walked-away-with-my-life-that-night-wounded-kenosha-man-gaige-grosskreutz-tells-his-story/42831809/
3. ↑ https://wisconsinexaminer.com/2020/07/10/the-peoples-movement-issues-letter-to-wauwatosa-demanding-change/
4. ↑ https://nypost.com/2021/11/15/sole-survivor-of-rittenhouse-shootings-has-criminal-past-report/
5. ↑ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10203911/Sole-survivor-Kyle-Rittenhouse-career-criminal-charges-dropped-just-trial.html
6. ↑ https://wikibious.com/gaige-grosskreutz/
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenosha\_unrest\_shooting#Second\_confrontation
8. ↑ https://heavy.com/news/gaige-grosskreutz/
9. ↑ https://eu.jsonline.com/story/news/crime/2021/11/08/wounded-man-testifies-rittenhouse-trial-i-thought-going-die/6342915001/
10. ↑ https://www.npr.org/2021/11/08/1053567574/kyle-rittenhouse-trial-gaige-grosskreutz-testimony-kenosha