Rittenhouse's appearance at a university generated hostility from a number of students but he remained positive, saying it had been "a great event."

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.

  • ZK686@lemmy.worldEnglish
    653·
    8 months ago

    If this kid was black, you’d all be praising him for killing two white people who were attacking him. The reason Lemmy and Reddit hate this dude is because you associate him with some kind of “white privilege” for going to help defend businesses from being destroyed (at the request of the city’s businesses who had enough of the rioting and torching) he ends up defending himself against criminals who were there just to cause problems.

    • Ragdoll X@lemmy.world
      21·
      8 months ago

      He actively sought out confrontation and killed two people after he got the confrontation he wanted. The right idolizes him because he’s a murderer and buddied up to white supremacists, and now he’s pandering to them for money and affirmation, and runs away as soon as he faces any criticism.

      So no, we don’t dislike him for being white. We dislike him for being just like any other fascist grifter who fetishizes violence.

    • squid_slime@lemmy.world
      12·
      8 months ago

      he’d have been arrested straight away for brandishing a firearm whilst being underage and crossing state line.

    • Eggyhead@lemmy.worldEnglish
      11·
      8 months ago

      Had a cheeky peek at your comment history and it sure seems like you’re at war with reality, friend. You do you, but that fight is never going to end.