Kyle Rittenhouse Storms Off Stage After Being Confronted by Students

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.

Rittenhouse was acquitted in November 2021 on charges of first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, and two charges of first-degree recklessly endangering safety. Rittenhouse later said he supported the BLM movement, explaining that he was at the demonstration to “protect businesses and provide medical assistance.”

In video footage shared on X, formerly Twitter, Rittenhouse was shown standing onstage at the University of Memphis as a group of students confronted him about statements that Turning Point USA’s Kirk had made in the past.

“Charlie Kirk has said a lot of racist things,” said a student addressing Rittenhouse from the audience.

“What racist things has Charlie Kirk said?” Rittenhouse challenged. “We’re gonna have a little bit of a dialogue of what racist things that Charlie Kirk said.”

The student responded of Kirk: “He says that we shouldn’t celebrate Juneteenth, we shouldn’t celebrate Martin Luther King day—we should be working those days—he called 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?”

“I don’t know anything about that,” Rittenhouse said from the stage, prompting jeers among the audience.

“Does that seem racist is a yes or no question, Kyle,” yelled one attendee.

“Well, after all the things I just told you, would you consider that hate speech,” the student asked Rittenhouse, who had a dog with him onstage.

“I’m not gonna comment on that,” Rittenhouse said, sparking more noise from the crowd.

Seconds later, Rittenhouse abruptly exited the stage to cheers from the crowd. The attendees were then promptly ordered to depart the venue.

Newsweek has contacted Rittenhouse, the University of Memphis and Turning Point USA via email and social media for comment.

In January, conservative activist Kirk sparked uproar when he said: “If I see a Black pilot, I’m gonna be like ‘boy, I hope he is qualified.'”

He later added it was “not who I am, that’s not what I believe,” but said he was being made to react that way because he felt policies adopted by major companies regarding ethnic minorities meant less-qualified people were being given jobs with significant responsibility, including airline pilots.

On The Charlie Kirk Show, Kirk, who is a supporter of presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, also attacked the “myth” surrounding revered civil rights activist the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King.

Rittenhouse commented on his experience in Tennessee in the hours surrounding the event on Wednesday, writing on X: “Wow Memphis is a interesting city.”

Later, he shared a video in a follow-up post, which was captioned: “Quick update.
We made it back safely!”

“Hey guys, so we just got back from Memphis University. I’m with Byron, who was helping with my security today,” Rittenhouse introduced the clip. “It was quite interesting watching the videos and seeing some of the articles from the media, saying that I got there at 4 o’clock.”

After disputing that timeline, Rittenhouse shared a positive review of his experience, stating: “Anyway, it’s a great event, and I think it’s funny that a lot of the media is saying we got booed offstage. In reality, we did a hard cut off time and just happened leave at that. great event. Interesting people, to say the least.”

He also responded to Tennessee-based civil rights activist and former Shelby County Commissioner Tami Sawyer, who wrote on X: “Like the coward he is, Kyle Rittenhouse stormed off stage. I’m proud of the [University] of Memphis students who organized resistance tonight, as well as the Black Student Association, the U of M NAACP, alums, and faculty who spoke out. I am not proud of @uofmemphis administration.”

“Hey Tami how come you were [too] much of a coward to ask me any questions?” Rittenhouse hit back. As of press time, Sawyer has yet to respond.

Rittenhouse has documented the circumstances surrounding the 2020 shootings in his recently released book, Acquitted, which has been described as a “story of survival, resilience, and justice.”

Back in November, Rittenhouse’s criminal defense attorney said that he had lost all his money since he was acquitted in the Wisconsin shootings.

Talking to Court TV, attorney Mark Richards, who represented Rittenhouse at the trial, said: “He is working, he is trying to support himself. Everybody thinks that Kyle got so much money from this. Whatever money he did get is gone.

“He’s living, I don’t want to say paycheck to paycheck, but he’s living to support himself. Obviously, as his lawyer and somebody who I want to do well, I hope he does reengage in his studies. But right now he is working full-time, he is living a law-abiding life and he is doing something that he enjoys.”

Rittenhouse has been open about needing money in the past and previously used an appearance on Fox News to request donations to his legal fund. He faces lawsuits from the man he shot and injured, as well as from the father of one of the two men he killed. Rittenhouse has denied any wrongdoing.