Kyle Rittenhouse, a 21-year-old gun rights activist who was acquitted after shooting dead two people and injuring another during racial justice protests in 2020, sparked fierce outrage during a speech at the University of Memphis.
On Wednesday, Rittenhouse was met with widespread student protests as he spoke at a campus event organized by the university’s chapter of Turning Point USA, a conservative student organization.
Rittenhouse’s speech topics included the importance of the second amendment and “the lies of Black Lives Matter”, according to event details.
Pictures posted online showed students protesting Rittenhouse’s appearance with signs that said “Murderers don’t belong here!” and “Where’s the tears now, lil boy?” – an apparent reference to Rittenhouse’s emotional sobs during his murder trial in 2021.
In August 2020, Rittenhouse, who was 17 years old at the time, traveled from his home in Antioch, Illinois, armed with an AR-15-style rifle to aid a Kenosha-based militia that was calling for protection for businesses against protesters supporting the Black Lives Matter movement.
At the protests, Rittenhouse shot and killed 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum before shooting and killing 26-year-old Anthony Huber. Rittenhouse also wounded Gaige Grosskreutz, a 26-year-old protester and volunteer medic at the time who carried his own gun.
Following a widely watched and controversial trial in which he repeatedly claimed self-defense, Rittenhouse was acquitted in November 2021. His acquittal was largely regarded by critics as a revelation of the favorable treatment from law enforcement towards white self-styled militant vigilantes, in contrast to the treatment meted out to racial justice protestors.
The University of Memphis said it was legally obligated to allow Rittenhouse to speak despite the widespread protests.
“The upcoming event at the University of Memphis featuring Kyle Rittenhouse is not sponsored by the university. A registered student organization, University of Memphis TPUSA, is hosting the event. Under the first amendment and Tennessee’s Campus Free Speech Act, the University of Memphis cannot legally prohibit such events from being hosted by a registered student organization,” it said, the Commercial Appeal reported.
Speaking to WREG, one student said: “They’re portraying him like this icon for the gun people … We already have enough gun violence in Memphis itself, so having this guy come here and spread racist views and also talking about how we need more guns on the street … I think it’s awful, just baffling, that they allow this. Because this is borderline free speech, but this is more toward hate speech.”
Another student told WMC-TV: “We’re also a city that is predominately Black and we’re also a city that is grappling with gun violence … We are actively giving a platform to a white nationalist.”
One video posted online showed students booing and walking out of the auditorium as Rittenhouse spoke. Another video showed a student yelling to Rittenhouse: “What lie? What lie? Tell me the lies of Black Lives Matter? Tell me the lies you’re [going to] talk about?”
In a separate video, a student was seen confronting Rittenhouse, who was on stage with a dog, about comments made by Turning Point USA’s founder Charlie Kirk.
“The CEO of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, has said a lot of racist things,” the student said from his seat.
“What racist things has Charlie Kirk said?” Rittenhouse replied before repeating his question.
“He says that we shouldn’t celebrate Juneteenth, we shouldn’t celebrate Martin Luther King Day – we should be working those days – he called [supreme court justice] 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?” the student said.
In response, Rittenhouse said: “I don’t know anything about that.”
“Well, after all the things I just told you, would you consider that hate speech?” the student asked.
“I’m not going to comment on that,” Rittenhouse said, prompting cries from the audience.
Following the event, Rittenhouse posted a video on X, saying: “Great event! I think it’s funny that a lot of the media is saying that we got booed off stage. In reality we did a hard cut off time and just happened to leave at that.”
