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.

  • EatATaco@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    21
    arrow-down
    39
    Ā·
    9 months ago

    Irrelevant.

    Murder is literally the illegal killing of someone. So yes it absolutely matters whether he was convicted. To claim itā€™s irrelevant that he was found not guilty of murder just exposes how detached from reality your position is. We can argue that he should have been found guilty, but you have to realize that the people who disagree with you donā€™t think heā€™s a murderer.

    Theyā€™re stupid, simple as.

    And Iā€™ve heard plenty of them make the claim anyone who thinks he is a murderer is stupid. In this regard, youā€™re just like them.

    • gamermanh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      25
      arrow-down
      13
      Ā·
      9 months ago

      Murder is literally the illegal killing of someone

      Irrelevant. People know him as a murderer, thus that is what he is famous for. Plenty of people are famous for shit thats not technically accurate.

      but you have to realize that the people who disagree with you donā€™t think heā€™s a murderer.

      I do, I just donā€™t care what wrong people think about shit thatā€™s basic and obvious.

      And Iā€™ve heard plenty of them make the claim anyone who thinks he is a murderer is stupid. In this regard, youā€™re just like them.

      Yeah but those people are fucking stupid, so I wouldnā€™t listen to them.

      • Samueru@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        arrow-down
        11
        Ā·
        edit-2
        9 months ago

        People know him as a murderer

        I donā€™t, because I actually watch the damn trial

        shit thatā€™s basic and obvious.

        Is it basic and obvious that you should just let be yourself attacked by a crowd even after trying to flee from said crowd instead of defending yourself?

      • EatATaco@lemm.ee
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        16
        arrow-down
        25
        Ā·
        9 months ago

        People know him as a murderer

        The people inviting him to speak seen him as a victim who acted in self defense. Which is the whole point of the question: heā€™s not a murder to them.

        Yeah but those people are fucking stupid, so I wouldnā€™t listen to them.

        Itā€™s funny how exactly like them you are, and how stupid you think they are for it.

      • Jax@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        arrow-down
        15
        Ā·
        9 months ago

        Ehh, except youā€™re wrong. Using terms colloquially is one thing, no one has accepted that the legal definition of murder has changed. Certainly not regarding Rittenhouse.

        Yes he is known for being a killer or a shooter but he is not a murderer until charged in a court of law. Make whatever argument for how the decision not to charge him was wrong, I wonā€™t disagree. He is a killer. The distinction is important because the ā€œlawā€ deemed it rightful.

        Again, make whatever argument you want for that being wrong.

          • Jax@sh.itjust.works
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            5
            Ā·
            edit-2
            9 months ago

            18 U.S.C.Ā Ā§ 1111 defines murder as the unlawful killing of a human being with malice

            theĀ unlawfulĀ premeditatedĀ killing of one human being by another.

            This is both the legal definition of murder and the dictionary definition.

            Next youā€™ll say ā€œBut lAnGuAgEs ChAnGe OvEr TiMeā€

            Edit: Iā€™d like to point out the failure to recognize that my meaning is the law failed. Should he be a murderer? Yes. Is he? No. Why is that? The justice system failed.

            You can apply whatever meaning to whatever words you want, none of that matters in the face of the far reaching power that is the U.S. justice system. You declaring heā€™s a murderer is the most meaningless form of activism I can think of. Youā€™re an ant screaming at a bulldozer.

        • Hacksaw@lemmy.ca
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          1
          arrow-down
          6
          Ā·
          9 months ago

          ā€œkilling black people isnā€™t murder like killing rats with pesticide isnā€™t murderā€ -the least racist conservative