The judge in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial, Bruce Schroeder, has banned MSNBC from entering the Kenosha County Courthouse after someone working for the news division was pulled over while allegedly following the van ferrying jurors from the trial.
“I have instructed that no one from MSNBC news will be permitted in this building for the duration of this trial,” Schroeder said on the bench Thursday. “This is a very serious matter and I don’t know what the ultimate truth of it is, but absolutely it would go without much thinking that someone who is following the jury bus, that is an extremely serious matter and will be referred to the proper authorities for further action.”
An NBC News spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter that the person was a freelancer for the network, and that they received a traffic citation.
“While the traffic violation took place near the jury van, the freelancer never contacted or intended to contact the jurors during deliberations, and never photographed or intended to photograph them,” the spokesperson said. “We regret the incident and will fully cooperate with the authorities on any investigation.”
The jury in the Rittenhouse trial is currently in deliberations and had been shuttled to and from the courthouse on a bus with shuttered windows. Schroeder said that the freelancer told the police officers that were ticketing him that he had been instructed to follow the jury bus by a superior in New York.
