Kenosha shooting victims identified, remembered as ’sweet,’ ‘loving’ guys

The two men who were gunned down during a chaotic night of demonstrations over the shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin this week have been identified by family and friends as “sweet” and “loving” protesters who were both against violence and vandalism.

Anthony Huber, 26, and Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, died after police said a 17-year-old gunman who was illegally carrying a rifle shot them in the streets of Kenosha, the city where cops shot and wounded an unarmed Blake in front of his kids on Sunday.

Videos shared on social media appear to show Huber and Ronsebaum trying to take down the suspect late Tuesday night moments after the teen reportedly shot another protester. That first victim, 36-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz, was hospitalized but is expected to survive.

A friend and local business owner said the three activists were known to the community as peaceful demonstrators who rallied against police brutality and systemic racism while condemning the use of violence during protests.

“They came out here every time with us. Sweet. Loving. They were the sweetest hearts, souls. I called Anthony my hippie guy,” Porche Bennett told the Kenosha News. “They were sweet guys. We knew all three of them, but (Huber) was the one who would always come up to me. Always would be right by me.”

A GoFundMe campaign set up to help Huber’s family pay for funeral expenses described him as a “witty and awesome skateboarder.”

“He was fighting for a cause and he wasn’t a rioter, he was a protester and a defender,” wrote a woman identifying herself as his aunt.

The young man, who lived in nearby Silver Lake, is survived by his longtime girlfriend and a stepdaughter.

Rosenbaum, a Texas native who had recently moved to Kenosha, left behind a fiancée and young daughter, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. A GoFundMe campaign has also been launched to help his family.

The alleged killer, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, was charged Wednesday with first-degree intentional homicide. The Illinois resident, an aspiring cop who considered himself a militia member, was seen on video casually carrying his rifle in front of heavily armed police in Kenosha the night before. He managed to go back home after the triple shooting, but he was arrested hours later and charged as an adult.