Written by Katlyn Marotz, Staff Writer
Anthony Huber, 26, was an active and important member of Kenosha’s skateboarding community.
To those who knew him well, he was a “completely indescribable” person who was taken too soon while standing up for his own beliefs during an Aug. 25 protest in Kenosha against an earlier police shooting of a Black man, Jacob Blake, who survived but is paralyzed from the waist down.
During those protests, Huber himself was shot and killed by Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, Ill., who contends he came to Kenosha the night of the protests to protect a local business.
Rittenhouse arrived with an AR-15 rifle. Now, Rittenhouse currently stands charged with first degree intentional homicide in the death of Huber.
Because of Huber’s strong bonds and ties to the skateboarding community, various people have come back together and reconnected in these past few weeks since Huber’s death
Basik Park is the main place where people can skate on boards, bikes, or roller skates. The park has been around since 1997, and I guarantee every single one of those people who have skated there has poured their blood, sweat, and tears onto those ramps and pikes. From the first skaters who arrived with their boards in 1997 to my own brother’s group in 2014.
Fellow skateboarders and Huber’s loved ones gathered throughout the entire week of his passing to pay tribute by painting on ramp ledges, chalk drawings, and lighting various amounts of candles.
Anthony turned a basic board with bearings and wheels into an entire world of creativity and freedom whilst sharing it with diverse individuals. And for that, he will remain a legend to the skateboarding community endlessly.
And now a whole new group of people have a place to feel included — truly find where they belong and feel best — despite this harsh world and its grueling challenges.
A place where you can drift into the abyss like a feather, the second you hear the running of the wheels.
Huber died a hero in my eyes, but will never die in the hearts of those he knew and those who now know of him. By bringing this community back together, he has restored so many connections and memories and impacted the hundreds of people there that day on Aug. 25 .
Heroes live forever.