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 collegeā€™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 Rittenhouseā€™s presence.

The 21-year-old gained notoriety in August 2020 when, at the age of 17, heĀ shot and killed two menā€”Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, as well as injuring 26-year-old Gaige Grosskreutzā€”at a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

He said theĀ three shootings, carried out with a semi-automaticĀ AR-15-style firearm, were in self-defense. TheĀ Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest where the shootings took place was held afterĀ Jacob Blake, a Black man, was left paralyzed from the waist down after he was shot by a white police officer.

  • Blooper@lemmynsfw.com
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    8 months ago

    Hang on - in your analogy, the 17 year old kid is the battered wife and the black strangers - miles away and across state lines - are his abusers? Suggesting the kid was somehow a victim here? Like he spent his whole life being tortured by his abusive spouse (black strangers)?

    da fuq?

    • EatATaco@lemm.ee
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      8 months ago

      Iā€™m feeling out the position. These people think he legitimately acted in self defense. Just like we might all believe she acted in self defense. My position isnā€™t about equating these two things, I even explicitly said so. Itā€™s about whether its ā€œrepulsiveā€ to invite someone because they acted in self defense.

      • MsPenguinette@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Not OP but then yeah, itā€™d be repulsive to invite her to events as a hero. Maybe if it were an abuse awareness thing or a support group itā€™d be different. But if it were in the same way Rittenhouse was/is celebrated, thatā€™d be fucked.