Protesters interrupted an event with Kyle Rittenhouse, who was found not guilty of killing two people in 2021 during a protest.
The event, called “The Rittenhouse Recap,” was hosted by conservative group Turning Point USA at the University of Memphis, where Rittenhouse was supposed to talk about “the importance of the Second Amendment and the claims of BLM [Black Lives Matter],” according to the event’s website. The event’s website mentioned that.
A video was posted on social media. It showed Rittenhouse on stage while a group of students questioned him about past comments made by Turning Point USA’s founder, Charlie Kirk.
One student in the audience said, “Charlie Kirk has made a lot of racist comments,” to which Rittenhouse replied, “What racist things has Charlie Kirk said? We’re going to have a little bit of dialogue about the racist things that Charlie Kirk said,” Rittenhouse continued.
The student then listed a series of allegations of racist comments about Charlie Kirk, to which Rittenhouse said he does not “know anything about that.”
When pressed again by the student, Rittenhouse said, “I’m not going to comment on that,” and left the stage amid booing from the crowd.
Protests also took place outside the event space. Videos were posted online. They showed dozens of demonstrators holding posters and shouting phrases like “No justice, no peace.”
Rittenhouse was found not guilty in November 2021, after a jury unanimously found him not guilty of charges including intentional homicide and endangering safety.
His lawyers argued he acted in self-defense when he shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26 in Kenosha, Wis., during a racial justice protest in 2020. Rittenhouse, who was 19 at the time of the shooting, also injured a third protester.
His acquittal led to protests across the U.S. at the time, while pro-gun advocates celebrated the decision.
After the event, Rittenhouse said he knew he was “likely going to get booed off the stage.”
He said, “So my plan for that was if they don’t let me give a speech, I’m going to roll into Q&A and that’s what I did and we stopped the Q&A at a designated time and got out of there because we could just tell that the crowd was starting to get more and more hostile the more and more I shared my story,” he said Thursday. “So, we just went ahead…and got out.”
Rittenhouse said he “highly doubts” those involved in the protests will “be held accountable for harassing and intimidating and chasing other students” by the university.
In In a statement shortly before the event, Turning Point USA accused the University of Memphis of trying to “undermine the event.” The organization claimed the university “seized control” of the seating arrangement and ticketing system on the day of the event.
“Most shockingly, we have gathered credible information that school administrators have leaked the new ticketing information to protester groups so they can reserve larger numbers of newly issued tickets and sabotage the event,” Turning Point USA spokesperson Andrew Kolvet stated in a comment.
Some news sources suggested Rittenhouse left the Q&A session early because of demonstrators, but Kulvet noted he spoke for his original allocated time.
“The suggestions that Kyle angrily left the stage are absurd. He had warned that it was his last question, then he was asked a question that was not sincere about someone else and so he chose not to answer,” Kulvet told The Hill. “And then he finished the Q&A part and departed and spent two hours with our Turning Point USA students.”
The University of Memphis did not immediately reply to The Hill’s request for comment.
