46 Facts About Kyle Rittenhouse

Kyle Rittenhouse had traveled to Kenosha during the unrest and joined a group of armed people who said they were there to protect businesses.

Kyle Rittenhouse was charged by Kenosha County prosecutors with multiple criminal counts, including homicide.

Kyle Rittenhouse pleaded self-defense at trial and was acquitted in November 2021.

Images of Kyle Rittenhouse have been used for political purposes by both right-wing and left-wing actors, becoming an internet meme and appearing on commercial products.

Kyle Howard Rittenhouse was born on January 3,2003, in Antioch, Illinois, to Michael and Wendy Rittenhouse.

Kyle Rittenhouse's parents were married in Lake County, Illinois, in February 2000, three years before his birth.

Kyle Rittenhouse has two siblings, an older sister and a younger sister.

Kyle Rittenhouse expressed interest in law enforcement through publicly viewable social media posts.

In December 2018, Kyle Rittenhouse started a fundraiser through Facebook for Humanizing the Badge, a nonprofit.

On January 30,2020, Kyle Rittenhouse attended a Trump rally in Des Moines, Iowa, seated in the front row.

Kyle Rittenhouse attempted to join the US Marine Corps that same month, but he was disqualified from serving by recruiters.

Kyle Rittenhouse got a part-time job as a lifeguard at the YMCA in Lindenhurst, but was furloughed in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began, leading to a shutdown of many public facilities.

In late August 2020,17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse traveled from Antioch, Illinois, to Kenosha, Wisconsin, to help protect local businesses, after there were protests following the shooting of Jacob Blake by a police officer.

Kyle Rittenhouse fatally shot a second man, Anthony Huber, who struck Rittenhouse with a skateboard and tried to grab his rifle in a brief struggle.

At a criminal trial in Kenosha in November 2021, prosecutors argued that Kyle Rittenhouse was seen as an active shooter and had provoked the other participants.

Kyle Rittenhouse was named as a defendant in two civil lawsuits following the incident.

Two days later on November 22,2021, the hour-long episode titled "The Kyle Rittenhouse Interview" released, where Carlson interviewed him about a wide range of subjects.

Kyle Rittenhouse said that he supported the Black Lives Matter movement and "peacefully demonstrating".

Lorraine Ali of the Los Angeles Times said the interview "canonized" Kyle Rittenhouse while categorizing it as an overly sympathetic "soft ball" interview.

Kyle Rittenhouse wanted to know if he could come over, say hello, because he was a fan.

Kyle Rittenhouse has appeared at several events run by Turning Point USA, a conservative nonprofit organization, including a panel called "Kenosha on Camera" at Turning Point USA's conservative youth conference AmericaFest in December 2021.

The organization arranging the event said Kyle Rittenhouse was not compensated for the 45-minute panel appearance.

Kyle Rittenhouse denied being a racist, domestic terrorist, or white supremacist, saying he had been attacked by those who described him in these terms.

Right-wing memes using Kyle Rittenhouse's image have spread on social media.

In March 2022, Kyle Rittenhouse shared a meme of himself crying while on the witness stand during his trial, manipulated to appear like he was crying about rising gas prices, which he tweeted was "thanks to a Joe Biden presidency".

Kyle Rittenhouse's image has been used for a number of products and sales, including clothing, a gun sale, and a video game.

Fans of Kyle Rittenhouse have continued to sell clothing with his image following the trial.

Kyle Rittenhouse further said the discussions were in the "early phase".

In December 2023, Kyle Rittenhouse's book Acquitted was released, coauthored with Mark Richards and Michael Quinn Sullivan.

The video game, which features a cartoon Kyle Rittenhouse holding a bright orange gun with the aim of shooting turkeys that represent the media, has no stated release date.

Kyle Rittenhouse has been publicly offered multiple internships, all by Republican lawmakers.

In November 2022, Kyle Rittenhouse met with Republican House of Representative members of the Second Amendment Caucus to discuss his experiences and answer questions from the caucus.

In January 2023, a Texas brewery cancelled an anti-censorship rally it was to host featuring Kyle Rittenhouse, citing concerns by local patrons and a conflict with its own values.

Kyle Rittenhouse has been working with former Texas House representative and Republican donor Jonathan Stickland.

In October 2024, after it became known that Kyle Rittenhouse planned to appear later that month at a charity music festival in Orlando, several bands pulled out of the event, including Evergreen Terrace, who referred to him as a "murderer".

Organizers of the Shell Shock II festival, which supports first responders dealing with injuries such as PTSD, upheld Kyle Rittenhouse's participation, saying in part that "everyone is welcome".

Kyle Rittenhouse has become a gun rights advocate since his trial.

In March 2024, Kyle Rittenhouse rushed off a University of Memphis stage after being confronted with protests and politically themed questions.

Kyle Rittenhouse returned to the university in late February 2025 and spoke without interruptions to about 40 people, taking some questions afterward while protestors were gathered outside.

In June 2024, Kyle Rittenhouse was named outreach director for Texas Gun Rights, a state affiliate of the National Association for Gun Rights.

In February 2022, Kyle Rittenhouse announced he was launching the Media Accountability Project, sometimes referred to by its acronym TMAP, during another interview on Tucker Carlson Tonight, saying:.

Kyle Rittenhouse's announcement drew a comparison by The Tennessee Star to Nicholas Sandmann, a Covington Catholic High School student from Kentucky who became known for the January 2019 Lincoln Memorial confrontation.

In 2022, a satirical story turned into a rumor circulating on social media saying that Kyle Rittenhouse had filed and settled a lawsuit against Whoopi Goldberg and The View.

Kyle Rittenhouse launched a YouTube channel focusing on guns and the Second Amendment on October 16,2022.

In 2022, after being acquitted of the Kenosha shootings, Kyle Rittenhouse moved to Texas.

In October 2021, Kyle Rittenhouse started taking online classes at Arizona State University as a non-degree seeking student, and wanted to transition to in-person classes.