You can actually see the wind up, and the throw clearly in the gif i posted?!
It hit Kyle in the Head/Neck, and then sort of glances off after the initial attack as the guy loses balance and stumbles. The annoying thing is the frame in the video is obscured by the post, but you can clearly see the shift in the skateboard in the frame afterwards and how it has deflected before it rests on him.
I find it really hard to believe that you cannot see it.
Found your gif – it seems to be a slightly different angle than the video I was able to review, and from this angle it certainly looks to play out differently than I saw (perspective eh!) – in the gif, it doesn’t seem like the guy with a skateboard does get tripped, but it appears the shooter hits him in the knee, when bringing his legs back up to try to shield himself.
As he comes in, it seems like he does indeed have the skateboard facing down as I said, but it’s almost like it’s cocked and locked for jabbing, then at the last moment it looks like he then swings it at the shooter, who in turn looks to maybe raise his left shoulder to take some (most?) of the hit as he rolls on his side further – it still looks as though his head might take a knock, but it’s not clear on the gif. To me it doesn’t look like the guy with the skateboard threw it, as he seems to maintain a hold on one of the wheels, but that’s a moot point I guess.
What’s honestly interesting to me, is just how much a different angle can affect the impression from the video footage – makes me wonder if either side had all of the footage that was out there, or just cherry-picked the bits that would bolster their claims; as is their job I suppose. Wasn’t there a point where the judge disallowed someone to zoom in on something – surely if it helped to clarify a bit of evidence, then he should/could allow it? His court, his rules I suppose.