Kyle Rittenhouse abruptly departed the stage during an appearance at the University of Memphis on Wednesday, after he was confronted about comments made by Turning Point USA founder and president Charlie Kirk.

Rittenhouse was invited by the college’s Turning Point USA chapter to speak at the campus. However, the event was met with backlash from a number of students who objected to Rittenhouse’s presence.

The 21-year-old gained notoriety in August 2020 when, at the age of 17, he shot and killed two men—Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, as well as injuring 26-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz—at a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

He said the three shootings, carried out with a semi-automatic AR-15-style firearm, were in self-defense. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest where the shootings took place was held after Jacob Blake, a Black man, was left paralyzed from the waist down after he was shot by a white police officer.

  • theneverfox
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    9 months ago

    Ok… So I don’t get this. This guy got away with shooting some black protesters and seems pretty racist.

    Why exactly does that make him worth putting on stage? And at a college no less…

    • lemonmelon@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      He shot three white men and killed two of them. I think he was irresponsible and foolish to insert himself in the situation. I think his motivation for doing so was racially biased.

      I also think it is important to be factual where possible. He’s already despicable for trying to benefit from the killings. Incorrectly labeling the victims as minorities, even by mistake, weakens the position against him by giving bad-faith actors a point of contention to home in on.

      • theneverfox
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        9 months ago

        Fair, but I genuinely don’t know this guy, I’m genuinely asking for information. Killing 3 white guys doesn’t qualify you for public speaking either

    • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      This is how shit the info you people have, no one he shot was black…all 3 where white guys. One was a domestic abuser and the other was a pedophile, the one injured had a felony record and was not supposed to own a firearm. Rittenhouse is still a fucking idiot for being there but FFS get your info right. You sound like those right wing dipshits who just make shit up to fit an agenda.

      • theneverfox
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        9 months ago

        I don’t know who this dude is. Apparently the people he shot were white - apparently I made some assumptions

        So he killed 3 white guys and seems pretty racist. Why is he a public speaker? At colleges no less?

        • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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          9 months ago

          So let me get this straight…you come into a thread about a very well published case of self defense… with no clue who he is, but because everyone else who hates guns, think he is a POS you jump on the band wagon?

          Lol what a fucking joke.

          Some of you are the most ignorant people on the left. You’re like the rights version of the idiots who want Joe Biden impeached…fucking just ignorant.

          • Pwnmode@lemmy.world
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            9 months ago

            “Self defense”. Sure. When someone drives to a protest out of state and starts walking around patrolling streets with guns for some reason it’s less of self defense to me and more hunting. He took it up on him himself to be a vigilante and put himself in dangerous situations that he didn’t need to be in.

            Calling him anything but a childish POS who wanted to wave his metal dick around is a fucking joke.

            • SupraMario@lemmy.world
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              9 months ago

              He lived in the area. Literally if you lived next to a state line, there isn’t some random boarder, you just live in that area. It’s a stupid argument.

              Protecting an area from rioters, while stupid, was the reason they where there. There is plenty of footage from that night, the dude should have stayed home, but so should the 3 tools who were there looking to burn buildings and start fights. A 4 people involved were idiots, and none of them should be defended.