Kyle Rittenhouse leaves stage abruptly after being booed at University of Memphis: ‘Put him behind bars’
Kyle Rittenhouse, who was found not guilty of shooting that killed two men during the 2020 civil unrest in Wisconsin, faced huge backlash from students during an event in the University of Memphis on March 20, Wednesday.
Rittenhouse arrived on the campus on the request of the University’s Turning Point USA Chapter. He was invited to talk about the second amendment and to share his views on gun violence and the 2020 incident.
Majority of students protested his arrival on the campus, forcing Rittenhouse to leave the event early. As per local media, he appeared on the stage only for 30 minutes.
In the social media videos that went viral on X (formerly Twitter), a group can be seen holding placards and raising slogans of, “No Justice, no peace.”
While one demonstrator held a poster that read, “Murderers don’t belong here”, another had the message, “Put Rittenhouse behind bars, not a podium.”
Speaking about their protest, one student told ABC24, “The goal is to take up space…but mostly to take up space from people who have harmful ideologies.”
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Justifying the Rittenhouse’s appearance, the University of Memphis asserted that he has the right under the First Amendment to do so.
It further said it is “the expression of different ideas and opinions plays an important role in maintaining a diverse campus environment that is open and inclusive.”
Before the event, the university urged the students to be peaceful and respectful, regardless of how they felt about the invitation given to Rittenhouse.
Meanwhile, photographs of flyers surfaced on social media stating that a “9MM beats 911 every time,” that some people said were handed out inside the event. A video on X shows some protesters at the event booing, yelling, and questioning Rittenhouse.
‘A great event’: Rittenhouse says otherwise
Following the incident, Rittenhouse posted a video on X, claiming that the event was “great”. He rejected the reports of him being “booed off stage” as false and funny.
In 2020, Rittenhouse, at the age of 17, entered a Black Lives Matter event in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with a semi-automatic rifle and commenced firing. He was acquitted of killing two individuals and injured another after pleading self-defence.
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Just four days being acquitted of double murder, Rittenhouse appeared in an interview with NewsNation, where he stated that he regretted going to the rally but did not regret acting in self-defence.
Meanwhile, Rep. Tom Massie, R-Ky., also backed Rittenhouse, stressing that he had a “greater sense of civic duty than most people exhibit in a lifetime.”
