Man with AR-15 rifle outside Kyle Rittenhouse trial says he is former Ferguson officer

Authored by nbcnews.com and submitted by Darzanak
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A man seen carrying an AR-15 rifle outside the courthouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where a jury is deliberating in the double homicide trial of Kyle Rittenhouse, identified himself as a former police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

The man, Jesse Kline, who was first identified by a Twitter user known as Danesh and whose identity was later confirmed by the Chicago Tribune, told the crowd that he is a former officer in Ferguson, Missouri, which was rocked by weeks of protests after police killed Michael Brown in 2014.

In a brief interview, Kline said he had traveled to Kenosha from Arizona, where he lives, to “exercise my constitutional rights.”

The Ferguson Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Kline confirmed that he was seen outside the Kenosha courthouse denouncing Black Lives Matter and calling the movement a “terrorist organization.” Photos also captured him holding what appeared to be a sex toy.

The Tribune reported that he arrived at the courthouse in a Maserati with his rifle wearing a tactical vest, a button-down shirt, a bow tie, slacks and dress shoes. Wisconsin is an open carry state.

He returned to the courthouse Thursday with “a long, narrow tote bag that was similar in appearance to a rifle case,” according to the Tribune.

The man initially called himself "Maserati Mike" but later identified himself as Kline.

After sheriff's deputies told Kline that he couldn't have the firearm because state law prohibits people from carrying guns within 1,000 feet of a school, the incident was resolved without further action, the Tribune reported.

Kline began working with the Ferguson Police Department in 2015 and was fired three years later after he was accused of following an ex-girlfriend to another man’s home and poking the man’s chest with the barrel of his gun, NBC affiliate KSDK of St. Louis reported.

Stalking and assault charges were dropped because the ex-girlfriend and a witness refused to cooperate with authorities and failed to appear for court hearings, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

Asked Thursday about the dismissed allegations, Kline said in a text message that “sometimes people lie to the police and charges get dropped.”

He ended the message with a smiley face emoji.

Kline declined to try to get his job back because he "humbly moved on to better opportunities," he said in a text message.

He said he was now an investor, although he declined to provide additional details and hung up on a reporter.

Moments later, he called back and said: "I wanted to let you know I'm government-funded and sometimes I glow in the dark."

IdiotBrigade2 on November 19th, 2021 at 14:33 UTC »

Hey ATF, this guy should be watched...

BitterFuture on November 19th, 2021 at 12:32 UTC »

"Former" because he was fired for stalking, oh, yes, threatening someone with a gun. And barely avoided prison.

This is my shocked face.

Logical-Necessary803 on November 19th, 2021 at 11:40 UTC »

He was also arrested for following a woman he used to date into another man's house, sticking a gun in the guys chest, and cursing out the woman.

Dude got all kinds of charges, but the victim and the witness didnt testify so a judge dropped all charges.

Just another example of how even when cops get charged, they rarely go through a trial thanks to witness intimidation.

If you testify against a cop; you'll be fucked with by that department the rest of your life.

Edit:

Someone said "it's not true because charges were dropped" then deleted their comment.

It was enough to get him fired from being a cop...

It's pretty fucking hard for a cop to get fired. This shit happened.