The family of a protester killed by Kyle Rittenhouse filed a federal lawsuit saying Kenosha police didn't do enough to stop him

• The family of a protester Kyle Rittenhouse is accused of killing sued Kenosha police in federal court.
• Anthony Huber's parents allege that police and the sheriff's office didn't do enough to prevent his death.
• The lawsuit alleges that by having a "different set of rules" for counter-protesters, police conspired with vigilantes.

The family of a Black Lives Matter protester who was killed by Kyle Rittenhouse last year filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday alleging authorities in Kenosha, Wisconsin didn't do enough to stop his death.

The parents of Anthony Huber - a 26-year-old father shot in the chest by Rittenhouse - accuse police of conspiring with vigilantes "by letting them patrol the streets, armed with deadly weapons, to mete out justice as they saw fit."

The suit, which was filed in federal court in Milwaukee, names Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth, former Kenosha Police Chief Daniel Miskinis, and the city's acting police chief, Eric Larsen, as defendants, in addition to other unnamed officers and deputies.

Rittenhouse was 17 when traveled to Kenosha from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to walk the streets armed during social unrest related to the police shooting of Jacob Blake in August 2020. He opened fire on Huber and two other protesters, Joseph Rosenbaum and Gaige Grosskreutz, with an AR-15-style rifle. Grosskreutz was wounded, but survived, while Huber and Rosenbaum died.

Rittenhouse - who became a hero to the far-right - is awaiting trial on homicide and reckless endangerment charges.

The lawsuit alleges police allowed vigilantes "a different set of rules"

Attorneys for Huber's parents said in the lawsuit that police treated counter-protesters, who were in Kenosha to oppose Black Lives Matter demonstrations, by a "different set of rules" when they arrived armed with weapons and broke a city curfew order.

According to the lawsuit, a Kenosha Police sergeant sent a message to all officers just before 10 p.m. letting them know that there were armed individuals patrolling the streets in violation of the curfew order.

But officers didn't take steps to detain or disarm the group, according to the documents, and instead a sergeant responded that the group was "very friendly."

Then police and sheriff's deputies were talking to Rittenhouse and other armed individuals who congregated in the parking lot of a private business at 11:30 p.m. - about 15 minutes before Rittenhouse shot Rosenbaum, Huber, and Grosskreutz, according to the lawsuit.

By allowing the "vigilantes" to walk freely in the city, Huber's family alleges police conspired with them.

"Defendants did nothing to stop Rittenhouse's illegal conduct," the lawsuit states. "They did not arrest him for illegally carrying a gun. They did not disarm him. They did not limit his movement in any way. They did not question him. They did not stop him from shooting individuals after he started. They did not arrest him, detain him, or question him even after he had killed two people."

The Kenosha Police Department didn't immediately return calls from Insider seeking comment.

The Kenosha County Sheriff's office denied the allegations in the suit through their attorneys.

"While we understand that the family of Anthony Huber is grieving his loss, we must make it clear that the allegations against Sheriff Beth and the Kenosha Sheriff's Office are demonstrably false and that the facts
will show that Mr. Huber's death was not caused by any actions or inactions of Kenosha County law enforcement," the statement from Crivello Carlson S.C. said.