Maurice Freeland

**Maurice "Reese" James Freeland** (born November 24, 1981), also known as **Jump Kick Man**, is a protester who became known for kicking Kyle Rittenhouse in the head on the night of August 25th 2020 during the Kenosha unrest shooting.

## Background

Maurice was born in Racine, Wisconsin. At the time of the Kenosha unrest, he was married to Melody Price and had a 7-year old son with her.

### Criminal Record

According to the Daily Mail, Maurice has a criminal record stretching back to the late 1990's, with at least 25 incidents taking place in Kenosha County. His offenses include battery, fraud, destruction of property, disorderly conduct, DUI, possession of controlled substances, traffic violations, escaping from custody and parole violations.
In 2000, Maurice was convicted of absconding from police custody. In 2003 and 2007, he was convicted of a misdemeanor for possession of marijuana, specifically tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). In 2008, he was convicted of a flight crime and two counts of misappropriation of identity documents. In 2009, he was convicted of taking and driving a car without owner’s consent, a felony, and obstructing an officer as a repeat offender, a misdemeanor. In 2010, he had another forfeiture for disorderly conduct in a different court. In 2013, he was convicted of THC possession as a repeater, a felony, and misdemeanor obstructing an officer, as a repeater. He received local jail time. In 2016, a petition for alimony was filed against him and he was detained. On January 8, 2018, he was booked into the Kenosha County Jail in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He was charged with a probation and parole violation and three counts of disorderly conduct and released on April 8, 2018. On October 26, 2018, he was booked into the Kenosha County Jail and charged with one count of disorderly conduct. He was released that day after posting bond. On March 23, 2020, Maurice was convicted of domestic battery after assaulting a girlfriend in a drunken state when she withheld his car keys and had a friend drive them home. He was out on bond at the time of the Kenosha shooting.

### Kenosha shooting

On August 25, 2020, he kicked Kyle Rittenhouse‘s head during a Black Lives Matter riot in Kenosha after Rittenhouse shot Joseph Rosenbaum, which was before Rittenhouse shot Anthony Huber and Gaige Grosskreutz.

During Rittenhouse's trial, although remaining unnamed, witness testimony and video recordings showed that the defendant had fired at and barely missed Maurice just before the kick. This could have been added to Rittenhouse's charges, but Maurice refused to testify unless he was granted immunity for his own offenses, which was denied by the court.

Maurice's ex-wife and her adult daughter would later make unverified claims about Maurice's involvement in Black Lives Matter, including that it was "part of his culture", alleging that he had made a Facebook post calling for the killing of a "white boy", apparently referring to Rittenhouse, just before the shooting occured, without being able to provide screengrabs.

1. ↑ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10217197/Jump-kick-man-filmed-kicking-Kyle-Rittenhouse-head-revealed.html
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 https://conandaily.com/2021/11/18/maurice-freeland-biography-13-things-about-racine-wisconsin-man/
3. ↑ https://www.wisconsinrightnow.com/2021/11/18/jump-kick-man-maurice-freeland/