Kyle Rittenhouse, who shot three men, two fatally, with a AR-15 style rifle during civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August 2020, and was acquitted after testifying that he had acted in self-defense, spoke at a Turning Point event held at the University of Memphis yesterday.
During the Q&A after his speech, when a Black student in the audience asked Rittenhouse why he would support Turning Point founder Charlie Kirk “who has said a lot of racist things,” Rittenhouse said, “I don’t know anything about that,” which provoked jeering from the audience. Rittenhouse then walked off the stage.
Here’s a few seconds later when he walks off in a huff with his support dog.
— Scottacular (@Scottcrates) March 21, 2024
After being accused of being “booed off stage,” Rittenhouse argued on X: “no one forced me to leave the stage… The event was scheduled for 30 minutes and I was on stage for 30 minutes,” but he also claims that the university censored his speech (“yes what they did was censorship”).
Tickets to the event were free.
According to the U of M student publication, The Daily Helmsman, the Black Student Association on campus encouraged members to get the free tickets to the event and to “join together to convey the message that Kyle Rittenhouse should not be able to speak here without questioning, as we feel he is not aligned with the values of diversity, equity and inclusion espoused here at the University of Memphis.”
No one forced me to leave the stage… The event was scheduled for 30 minutes and I was on stage for 30 minutes pic.twitter.com/dIkEQeTpT0
— Kyle Rittenhouse (@ThisIsKyleR) March 21, 2024
Turning Point’s Kirk vowed to investigate “if the University of Memphis colluded with local protestors to sabotage” the event, and to “file our own lawsuit on viewpoint discrimination.”
U.S. Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) also came to Rittenhouse’s defense on X and wrote: “At age 17, Kyle Rittenhouse had a greater sense of civic duty than most people exhibit in a lifetime.”
At 17, I was in Navy Boot camp. Along with hundreds of others who chose to enlist. Whitewashing the fact that this kid had no business being in another state, let alone carrying an AR. You’re a coward. Let me say that again-you’re a coward and a shit human. This kid is a POS. https://t.co/UPW4S8Ohee
— RETIRED MASTER CHIEF (@CMCRET) March 21, 2024
‘Retired Master Chief,’ a disabled U.S. Navy vet on X, replied to Massie: “At 17, I was in Navy Boot camp. Along with hundreds of others who chose to enlist. Whitewashing the fact that this kid had no business being in another state, let alone carrying an AR. You’re a coward…This kid is a POS.”