WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — A man posing as a reporter disrupted proceedings in the trial of Nathaniel Brazill as he stood in court and yelled that the boy defendant should not be tried as an adult.

"You can't put a kid on trial in an adult court," the man yelled as jurors watched a video of investigators' interview with Brazill last May. "That's wrong, that's wrong."

The man, Wil Van Natta, who later described himself as a county lifeguard, was removed from the courtroom and briefly detained. He told the judge at a hearing after the incident that "my conscience demanded I do that."

The judge, Palm Beach County Circuit Judge Richard Wennet, did not charge Van Natta, but instead released him and ordered him to stay clear of the courthouse and the jurors for the remainder of the trial.

Nathaniel Brazill was just 13 when he shot and killed his seventh-grade English teacher Barry Grunow on May 26, 2000. Prosecutors charged Brazill with first-degree murder. He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Defense attorneys argue that Brazill, an honor student who admired Grunow, fired the gun by accident and only meant to scare the teacher.

Juvenile justice has become an emotional issue in Florida — and nationally — since the trial of Lionel Tate in January.

Outside the courthouse, Van Natta told reporters he feared Brazill would face rape and abuse if he ended up in an adult prison facility.

"Children learn violence from adults," he said. "Nathaniel Brazill was not born a killer."

Asked about the Grunow family, Van Natta said: "Do you want to lynch [Brazill]? Will that bring back the teacher?"