Kyle Rittenhouse chased off stage, heckled by BLM protesters while speaking at University of Memphis
Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse abruptly fled the stage during an appearance at the University of Memphis Wednesday night after being heckled by a rowdy crowd of Black Lives Matter protestors.
The 21-year-old, who beat homicide charges after killing two people during riots in the summer of 2020, hightailed it off the podium after the protestors started booing loudly roughly 30 minutes into his scheduled appearance, footage from the event shows.
Before Rittenhouse even took the stage — with a therapy dog in tow — hundreds had rallied outside brandishing signs including “put Rittenhouse behind bars not a podium” and “no killers on my campus.”
The event was arranged by the student chapter of Turning Point USA, and Rittenhouse was challenged in a Q&A about alleged “racist things” previously said by the conservative nonprofit’s founder, Charlie Kirk.
“Like what? What racist things has Charlie Kirk said?” hit back Rittenhouse.
The protestor went on to detail alleged statements by Kirk, to which Rittenhouse replied: “I don’t know anything about that.”
As loud boos came from the crowd, Rittenhouse was asked if he deemd such allegations hate speech.
“I’m not going to comment on that,” he said before fleeing the stage with his therapy dog as the crowd erupted.
Rittenhouse was just 17 when he catapulted into the spotlight in 2020 when charged with homicide, attempted homicide and reckless endangering for killing Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum and wounding a third person with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle during protests in Kenosha, Wis.
He was ultimately acquitted of all charges in November 2021 after testifying during his high-profile trial that he acted in self-defense.
