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.

  • DozensOfDonner@mander.xyz
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    Maybe I’m missing something as I’m not from the states. Why the hell is a guy who is famous for murder invites to talk at a university?

    • Captain Janeway@lemmy.world
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      Rittenhouse was invited to speak at Wednesday’s event by the university’s Turning Point USA (TPUSA) chapter. Founded in 2012, the non-profit promotes conservative politics at schools and college campuses.

    • Gork@lemm.ee
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      Our gun culture is so nuts that it normalizes shit like this.

      When you look at it this way, it is utterly unsurprising that we have so many mass shootings.

      • PoliticalAgitator@lemmy.world
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        This isn’t normalisation, it’s celebration.

        I’m not going to be coy about why they’re celebrating him either: The pro-gun community spends hour after hour theorycrafting about how they can shoot people with their cool guns and get away with it. Kyle is being celebrated for finding a new “get out of jail free” technique that specifically targeted undesirables for murder.

        That’s all there is to it. They shower him with fame and money because he killed BLM protesters with America’s favourite gun. It’s his reward.

    • octopus_ink@lemmy.ml
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      It’s because the US right will celebrate literally any action that they perceive as working against what they think everyone left of them supports or enjoys. Kyle was a clean cut looking young white man who heroically skirted the edge of laws regarding firearm purchases and visited a town that was not his own where he made sure to keep looking until he find a situation that required him to use his gun. The context was protests fueled by the death of George Floyd and shooting of Jacob Blake at the hands of police.

      There were probably folks who literally touched themselves after hearing a red blooded, AR wielding young white man was able to be acquitted of murder after shooting protesters at a BLM protest. On top of that, one of the men had some form of pedophilia in his past, boosting their drumbeat of messaging claiming that folks who support LGBTQ+, and by extension all democrats and leftists, are groomers out to molest kids.

      It was a perfect storm of trump supporter daydreams all centered around Kyle Rittenhouse. Folks who buy into all or most of that view are big fans.

    • RememberTheApollo_@lemmy.world
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      Because having someone else buy a gun for you that you can’t legally buy, traveling to a confrontational hotspot with your guns, failing to leave a situation that was escalating, and that choice leading to one shooting a mentally ill bipolar person is perfectly legal. And the right wing absolutely wants to make sure everyone knows that. So he gets to be trotted out for any occasion where they need a “famous” person who chose to exercise their right to self-defense, despite making every effort to place themselves in a situation where it might be necessary.

      But that’s not his fault.

      • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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        He also managed to escape open carry laws because the judge deemed any rifle above 15 inches was not a “Deadly Weapon” despite Rittenhouse using the weapon to cause multiple deaths, due to loose interpretation of the grammar of the written laws. And the state congress in IL did nothing to correct him.

            • dgkf@lemmy.ml
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              1 year ago

              For those that need a translation:

              “You have got to be shitting me”

              “I am in fact not shitting you, my dude. It is very disappointing that this is real.”

              • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                I agree fully with you, but also this brings back to memory a 20 year old GameFAQs thread where we just posted initialisms and one guy was SO GOOD as guessing them

                I’m useless for this conversation but I’m sharing a bit about what I experienced growing up

                IASIHDFTTBITIWBRAAIAD

      • BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        calling it a racist murder just shows how much you really know about the topic at hand 🤣 goodness

        • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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          He went out of his way to go to a blm protest with a rifle to protect shops from protestors. Legally it wasn’t murder according to the jury, but I’m not charging him with that crime, I’m saying someone who isn’t a racist wouldn’t put themselves in that position

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            youre wording just made it sound like it was a hate crime, which confused me because afaik all 3 who were shot were white, and rittenhouse is also white, so you can see where im coming from with that lol

    • quindraco@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago
      1. He’s not famous for murder.
      2. The university didn’t invite him to talk, it was just the venue.
      • uienia@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        He is only famous because he is a murderer and he got away with it. He has nothing else going for him at all.

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          He was literally acquitted of murder. I’m not saying he’s famous - he’s really an obscure nobody - but his biggest claim to fame not only is legally not murder, claiming it is murder in a way people might take seriously, like a newspaper article, would open you up to liability for slander, since you’d be making claims it would be easy to prove in court you knew to be false when you made them.

          He’s a killer, yes. He killed people. That’s considered potentially distinct from murder in checks notes every country on Earth.

      • undercrust@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        Please stop calling the idiot a murderer.

        Who, Kyle Rittenhouse the scared little boy who murdered two people? Nah, I think I’ll keep calling him what he is, but you keep on living in your fantasy world down there in the States where gunning down people in the streets and schools is a normal every day thing.

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        How many judges pose for photos with the defendant of violent crimes? That judge did.

    • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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      I’m not defending him. But he was acquitted, so he’s not famous for murder. A bunch of people believe that he genuinely acted in legitimate self defense, and thus he is a symbol of the correct use of arms for self defense and a victim of a system that tried to jail him for doing so.

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        The Judge deemed a rifle above 15 inches was not a “Deadly Weapon” due to wild interpretation of the grammar of the state laws. He went to a protest with a military style rifle and shot people in two separate confrontations, killing 2 people. He is a murderer, it’s just been ruled that murdering political opponents was allowed in this case.

        • Fredselfish@lemmy.world
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          Hell he drove across state lines to get said protest. His whole purpose was to kill people he was itching to do so.

          I am against killing people but if this little fucker was shot and killed I feel no remorse.

          • Samueru@lemmy.world
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            Holy shit people are still repeating the drove across state lines crap to this day lmao. That shit was actually mentioned in the trial and quickly fell thru when Rittenhouse mentioned that they worked as a paramedic in that very place and made the prosecutor look like an asshole lmao.

            At least don’t spread misinformation my dude.

            • Fredselfish@lemmy.world
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              How stupid he 17 and no paramedic. And what paramedic is carrying around AR15? And yes he drove across state lines.

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                My bad, not paramedic but lifeguard.

                And what paramedic is carrying around AR15?

                Oddly enough one of the people shot were indeed an EMT and they were also armed.

                And yes he drove across state lines.

                Because they worked on that town and he was there the day before the shooting, unlike the other people involved in the shooting which iirc never lived or worked there.

                • Fredselfish@lemmy.world
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                  He was no where near that town and fucking life guard. Why are defending this murdering little fuck?

                  • Samueru@lemmy.world
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                    He was no where near that town and fucking life guard. Why are defending this murdering little fuck?

                    Because you’re spreading misinformation lol. Did you even watch the trial?

          • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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            The Jury did not get to decide on the gun charges because the Judge threw out the charges hours before closing statements. Any sympathy for this boy should be gone after seeing him use his “fame” to advocate shooting your political opponents, this is his chosen career path for years now.

              • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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                Do you think Rittenhouse crossed state lines with a military style rifle and walked the streets for hours pointing it at protestors before shooting three, killing 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum, of Kenosha, and 26-year-old Anthony Huber, of Silver Lake, Wisconsin…

                but did not commit murder?

                • Samueru@lemmy.world
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                  crossed state lines with a military style rifle

                  That did not happen… It was mentioned in the trial and everything, the gun was always in the same state, and rittenhouse was already for several days there as they worked there…

                  walked the streets for hours pointing it at protestors

                  I wanna see the evidence of this. (EDIT: There isn’t any and they just made it the fuck up lmao)

                  killing 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum

                  That guy was caught on video threatening everyone before the shooting happened. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N70fok1R2Kg

                  26-year-old Anthony Huber

                  This guy kicked either kicked rittenhouse in the head or hit him in the head with a skateboard lmao. AND rittenhouse tried to flee from him before so not like he even tried to stand his ground lmao.

                  It is really sad how people spread misinformation about the case, yes rIttenhouse is an idiot, but you’re just blatantly lying at this point.

                  edit: And for the people that keep spreading the lie that the judge was biased, please watch this legal eagle video;

                  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxoYNpBMaCg

                  • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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                    That did not happen… It was mentioned in the trial and everything, the gun was always in the same state, and rittenhouse was already for several days there as they worked there…

                    It was mentioned by Rittenhouse in his own testimony, of course he would blatantly admit to breaking the laws while on trial unless there were evidence either way.

                    I wanna see the evidence of this.

                    Are you high? Where do you think he was when these multiple confrontations started? He wasn’t brawling people on rooftops or inside of businesses, idiot.

                • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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                  Do I think he’s an idiot for doing so? Absolutely. Do I think those actions you listed in and of themselves revoke any claim he has to self defense? Absolutely not.

                  • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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                    He literally travelled there with a loaded murder-rifle to point it at people and kill them. That’s not defence. Nothing about that is defence. It’s literally offence, he went there from out of state just to do that.

                  • AbidanYre@lemmy.world
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                    1 year ago

                    walked the streets for hours pointing it at protestors

                    If they had shot him first, would they be the ones defending themselves from him?

            • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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              A racist pedo runs at a minor and gets killed and you are mad… Not really seeing how your stance is defendable.

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                Lmao, imagine thinking people who murder BLM protestors are fighting against racism. You’re too far gone, mate.

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                  I didnt say he was fighting against racism, I said one of the people you are defending was a racist pedo that spent years in prison and was in the process of attacking another minor, and you are defending them. Why are you so strongly defending that person?

                  • FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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                    @CableMonster believes he should decide who lives and dies, probably deserves to be on a watchlist as a potential mass murderer.

          • RobertoOberto@sh.itjust.works
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            Quick hypothetical for you:

            John shoots and kills Frank. They had never met each other and John did not know that Frank has a history of abusing children. John claims it was self-defense.

            Was the shooting justified?

            • CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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              There is not enough information. If you add the fact that Frank was chasing after John and trying to grab his gun, then yes it would be justified.

              The whole point is that people here seem to be defaulting to the racist pedo that was chasing after the minor. I dont get it out of ideologically you are forced to defend the guy on your team even if they spent years in prison for one of the worst crimes.

      • PraiseTheSoup@lemm.ee
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        OJ Simpson was acquitted. What’s he famous for? Because it definitely isn’t football.

      • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        But he was acquitted

        Irrelevant.

        He’s famous for being a murderer, whether he was found guilty or not doesn’t matter.

        A bunch of people believe that he genuinely acted in legitimate self defense

        They’re stupid, simple as.

        • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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          Irrelevant.

          Murder is literally the illegal killing of someone. So yes it absolutely matters whether he was convicted. To claim it’s irrelevant that he was found not guilty of murder just exposes how detached from reality your position is. We can argue that he should have been found guilty, but you have to realize that the people who disagree with you don’t think he’s a murderer.

          They’re stupid, simple as.

          And I’ve heard plenty of them make the claim anyone who thinks he is a murderer is stupid. In this regard, you’re just like them.

          • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            Murder is literally the illegal killing of someone

            Irrelevant. People know him as a murderer, thus that is what he is famous for. Plenty of people are famous for shit thats not technically accurate.

            but you have to realize that the people who disagree with you don’t think he’s a murderer.

            I do, I just don’t care what wrong people think about shit that’s basic and obvious.

            And I’ve heard plenty of them make the claim anyone who thinks he is a murderer is stupid. In this regard, you’re just like them.

            Yeah but those people are fucking stupid, so I wouldn’t listen to them.

            • Samueru@lemmy.world
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              People know him as a murderer

              I don’t, because I actually watch the damn trial

              shit that’s basic and obvious.

              Is it basic and obvious that you should just let be yourself attacked by a crowd even after trying to flee from said crowd instead of defending yourself?

            • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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              People know him as a murderer

              The people inviting him to speak seen him as a victim who acted in self defense. Which is the whole point of the question: he’s not a murder to them.

              Yeah but those people are fucking stupid, so I wouldn’t listen to them.

              It’s funny how exactly like them you are, and how stupid you think they are for it.

            • Jax@sh.itjust.works
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              Ehh, except you’re wrong. Using terms colloquially is one thing, no one has accepted that the legal definition of murder has changed. Certainly not regarding Rittenhouse.

              Yes he is known for being a killer or a shooter but he is not a murderer until charged in a court of law. Make whatever argument for how the decision not to charge him was wrong, I won’t disagree. He is a killer. The distinction is important because the “law” deemed it rightful.

              Again, make whatever argument you want for that being wrong.

                • Jax@sh.itjust.works
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                  18 U.S.C. § 1111 defines murder as the unlawful killing of a human being with malice

                  the unlawful premeditated killing of one human being by another.

                  This is both the legal definition of murder and the dictionary definition.

                  Next you’ll say “But lAnGuAgEs ChAnGe OvEr TiMe”

                  Edit: I’d like to point out the failure to recognize that my meaning is the law failed. Should he be a murderer? Yes. Is he? No. Why is that? The justice system failed.

                  You can apply whatever meaning to whatever words you want, none of that matters in the face of the far reaching power that is the U.S. justice system. You declaring he’s a murderer is the most meaningless form of activism I can think of. You’re an ant screaming at a bulldozer.

              • Hacksaw@lemmy.ca
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                “killing black people isn’t murder like killing rats with pesticide isn’t murder” -the least racist conservative

        • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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          If you think you can tell that from me based on this one post, well you are not nearly as bright as you think you are.