Rittenhouse Judge Bans MSNBC From Courthouse

Bruce Schroeder, the judge presiding over the case against Kyle Rittenhouse, announced Thursday that the court will no longer allow MSNBC staff inside the Kenosha County Courthouse for the duration of the proceedings. Schroeder says someone claiming to be an NBC News producer followed the bus that the jury uses to get to and from the building.

The Kenosha Police Department says the producer was "trying to photograph jurors."

"I have instructed that no one from MSNBC news will be permitted in this building for the duration of this trial," Schroeder said. "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.

"Last evening, a person who identified himself as James G. Morrison, and who claimed that he was a producer with NBC News, employed by MSNBC … the police when they stopped him because he was following in the distance … and went through a red light, they pulled him over and inquired what was going on and he gave that information."

The bus has brought the jury to the courthouse with covered windows on each day of the trial, the report says. Schroeder adds that Morrison claims to have been instructed to follow the vehicle by a producer identified as Irene Byon, who is based in New York.

The Kenosha News says that "Channel 5 Chicago (NBC) confirmed that the NBC producer was the party involved."

"This incident is being investigated much further," police note. "There was no breach of security regarding the jury, nor were there any photographs obtained. This investigation remains active and open, no further information."

Here was Schroeder's announcement: