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.

  • BarqsHasBite@lemmy.world
    2472·
    9 months ago

    “Charlie Kirk has said a lot of racist things,” said a student addressing Rittenhouse from the audience.

    “What racist things has Charlie Kirk said?” Rittenhouse challenged. “We’re gonna have a little bit of a dialogue of what racist things that Charlie Kirk said.”

    The student responded of Kirk: “He says that we shouldn’t celebrate Juneteenth, we shouldn’t celebrate Martin Luther King day—we should be working those days—he called Ketanji Brown Jackson an affirmative action hire, he said all this nonsense about George Floyd, and he said he’d be scared if a Black pilot was on a plane. Does that not seem racist?”

    “I don’t know anything about that,” Rittenhouse said from the stage, prompting jeers among the audience.

    “Does that seem racist is a yes or no question, Kyle,” yelled one attendee.

    “Well, after all the things I just told you, would you consider that hate speech,” the student asked Rittenhouse, who had a dog with him onstage.

    “I’m not gonna comment on that,” Rittenhouse said, sparking more noise from the crowd.

    Seconds later, Rittenhouse abruptly exited the stage to cheers from the crowd. The attendees were then promptly ordered to depart the venue.

    • WaxedWookie@lemmy.world
      1553·
      9 months ago

      They fly him around the country, but the media outfit he’s working for didn’t bother to invest in media training for their homicidal poster boy?

      So much for standing your ground.

    • tootoughtoremember@lemmy.world
      34·
      9 months ago

      “We’re gonna have a little bit of a dialogue of what racist things that Charlie Kirk said.”

      “I don’t know anything about that,”

      Not much of a dialogue lol

      • frezik
        18·
        9 months ago

        Someone taught him how to have the aesthetics of a rational argument, but forgot the part about the substance.

    • Wrench@lemmy.world
      353·
      9 months ago

      You’re telling me that the guy who showed up to counter protest with a gun, who provoked protestors while holding a gun, is actually a coward who’s too afraid to comment on the racist remarks of his shitty friend.

      Who’da’thunk’it

    • Serinus@lemmy.world
      2·
      9 months ago

      They haven’t yet taught him how to deflect the truth. Teach him that what he believes is bullshit, but profitable. Teach him how to understand and ignore the truth. Teach him how to just be louder than opposition. Have him memorize talking points and teach him to always retreat to them (especially when not appropriate). Give him 15 years of practice doing that, then he’ll be great at owning college libs, preferably on camera.

    • aidan@lemmy.worldM
      116·
      9 months ago

      I mean that seems fair that he wouldn’t comment on something he doesn’t know about

      • FurtiveFugitive@lemm.ee
        13·
        9 months ago

        “I haven’t heard those quotes before. Presented without context, they sound pretty bad but I will reserve judgement until I’ve had a chance to do more research.”

        That wasn’t that hard of a question to duck.

        • aidan@lemmy.worldM
          17·
          9 months ago

          That’s easy to say in retrospect but a lot of people can’t think of something to say when asked something unexpected on the spot. Even if they know the answer.

      • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
        2·
        9 months ago

        You know at work when I can’t give a firm answer to a question I will just say so and promise to find out. Turns out when you are not a murderer people cut you slack