Kyle Rittenhouse breaks down in tears as he testifies during his homicide trial

• Kyle Rittenhouse took the witness stand on Wednesday to testify in his own homicide tria.
• Rittenhouse has pleaded not guilty to fatally shooting two men and injuring a third during protests in Kenosha.

Kyle Rittenhouse broke down in tears on the witness stand Wednesday as he described the moment when he said a man he would go on to fatally shoot "ambushed" him during protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020.

Sobbing, Rittenhouse described feeling "cornered" by Joseph Rosenbaum and another man, Joshua Ziminski, in the moments leading up to the first fatal shooting on August 25, 2020.

"I didn't notice Mr. Rosenbaum until he came out from behind the car and ambushed me," Rittenhouse testified, saying he had been rushing to extinguish some fires when Rosenbaum and Ziminski began running after him.

He also said he also heard Ziminski egging on Rosenbaum, urging Rosenbaum to "get him and kill him."

Rittenhouse is charged with fatally shooting two men - Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber - and injuring a third, Gaige Grosskreutz, during a night of protests following the police shooting of Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse has argued he acted in self-defense, and that all three men had chased him.

Just before Rittenhouse began testifying, his defense attorney, Mark Richards, told Kenosha County Judge Bruce Schroeder that the teen's decision to testify was "consistent with the advice of counsel." Schroeder paused the testimony when the 18-year-old appeared unable to speak clearly.

Rittenhouse described the moments leading up to each shooting

Rittenhouse said as he ran from Rosenbaum, he saw the man throw an object that was later identified as a plastic bag containing personal items. But Rittenhouse said he thought the object was the "silver chain" he had seen Rosenbaum holding earlier that night.

"I turn around for about a second while continuing to run, and I point my gun at Mr. Rosenbaum," Rittenhouse said. "Rosenbaum is ... coming at me, with his arms out in front of him. I remember his hand on the barrel of my gun."

Rittenhouse said he opened fire, shooting Rosenbaum four times.

Rittenhouse testified that he ran back to see if he could help Rosenbaum, but saw a videographer named Richie McGinniss already assisting him. Rittenhouse said he called his friend, Dominick Black, and said "I just shot somebody. I had to shoot him."

Rittenhouse said he then heard Ziminski and his wife screaming, "Get his ass, get him, get him," and decided to run towards police.

When asked why he was trying to get to police, Rittenhouse responded, "Because I didn't do anything wrong. I defended myself."

As he ran, Rittenhouse said he realized that "not a crowd, a mob was chasing me." He said the next thing he remembered was Huber striking him in the head with a skateboard, swinging it "like a baseball bat."

Rittenhouse said he continued to run towards police, but became lightheaded and stumbled, falling to the ground. He said one person struck him with a "concrete rock" in the back of the head, and he pointed his gun toward the people approaching him.

One person jumped and kicked him in the face, Rittenhouse said, adding that he fired two shots towards the man because "he would've stomped my face in if I didn't fire."

He said Huber then ran up and struck Rittenhouse in the neck with a skateboard for a second time.

"He grabs my gun, and I can feel it pulling away from me, and I can feel the strap starting to come off my body," Rittenhouse testified. "I fire one shot."

Rittenhouse said he then lowered his weapon and saw Grosskreutz standing in front of him with his hands in the air.

"As I'm lowering my weapon, I look down. Then Mr. Grosskreutz lunges at me with his pistol pointed directly at my head," Rittenhouse said.

Grosskreutz testified Monday that he had initially raised his hands to Rittenhouse, but perceived that the teenager "wasn't accepting my surrender" because he was "re-racking" his AR-15 rifle. Grosskreutz said he never intended to kill Rittenhouse, but drew his pistol because he believed Rittenhouse was an active shooter.

Rittenhouse contradicted that testimony, saying he never re-racked his rifle.

Rittenhouse testified that Rosenbaum threatened him twice that night

Rittenhouse said earlier in the evening, Rosenbaum, wielding a "steel chain," had approached him and another armed civilian and "was just mad about something."

"If I catch any of you fuckers alone, I'm going to fucking kill you," Rosenbaum screamed, according to Rittenhouse.

Rittenhouse said on a second occasion, Rosenbaum also yelled at a group of people that included him, "I'm going to cut your fucking hearts out and I'm going to kill you," using the N-word.

Rittenhouse said he was in Kenosha that evening with first aid equipment and was prepared to assist people. He said the owners of a Kenosha car dealership had explicitly given him permission to be on their property.

That account conflicts with the testimony of two brothers who worked at the dealership. Anmol and Sahil Khindri both testified earlier in the tiral that they never requested any protection for the properties owned by their parents.

The state rested its case on Tuesday, after many of the witnesses presented by prosecutors offered statements that appeared to bolster Rittenhouse's claim that he acted in self-defense.