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.

    • @RobertoOberto@sh.itjust.works
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      149 months ago

      Quick hypothetical for you:

      John shoots and kills Frank. They had never met each other and John did not know that Frank has a history of abusing children. John claims it was self-defense.

      Was the shooting justified?

      • @CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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        -149 months ago

        There is not enough information. If you add the fact that Frank was chasing after John and trying to grab his gun, then yes it would be justified.

        The whole point is that people here seem to be defaulting to the racist pedo that was chasing after the minor. I dont get it out of ideologically you are forced to defend the guy on your team even if they spent years in prison for one of the worst crimes.

            • @RobertoOberto@sh.itjust.works
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              19 months ago

              Also right.

              The point I was getting at is that the question of whether or a shooting is justified depends entirely on the circumstances that led to the shooting. Not someone’s past criminal behavior that the shooter was not aware of.

              You may certainly disagree with other peoples’ reasons for viewing the shooting as unjustified. But it seems that you are either unwilling or unable to see that both people involved in an altercation can be bad. One shouldn’t be considered a hero just because he’s less bad than the other.

              The dead pedo deserved what he got. Rittenhouse is a dumbass who was looking for a fight and luck was the only thing that saved him from killing an innocent bystander.

              These can both be true at the same time, and saying that Rittenhouse’s actions shouldn’t be celebrated is not the same thing as defending pedophilia.

              • @CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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                09 months ago

                Rittenhouse was just a dumb kid, I heard him on a podcast and he just was just there to help, but if he was my kid he wouldnt have been there. But he was not “a dumbass who was looking for a fight”. He was not a hero, he was just a person that had to defend themselves so that he survived. Sure he shouldnt have been there, but neither should all of those looters and rioters.

                • @RobertoOberto@sh.itjust.works
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                  19 months ago

                  That’s a pretty reasonable position to take. I don’t agree with it, but I understand how you arrived there.

                  Do you still think that being a pedophile is the only reason someone would say Rittenhouse’s shooting was unjustified?

                  • @CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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                    19 months ago

                    With the pedo thing it just amazes me that they defend the pedo, but then will gloat when someone like Herman Cain dies of covid. It just makes me wonder why they defend him but them get mad at the minor who was just trying to get away.

                  • @CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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                    19 months ago

                    With the pedo thing it just amazes me that they defend the pedo, but then will gloat when someone like Herman Cain dies of covid. It just makes me wonder why they defend him but them get mad at the minor who was just trying to get away.

      • @CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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        -439 months ago

        A racist pedo runs at a minor and gets killed and you are mad… Not really seeing how your stance is defendable.

          • @CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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            -369 months ago

            I didnt say he was fighting against racism, I said one of the people you are defending was a racist pedo that spent years in prison and was in the process of attacking another minor, and you are defending them. Why are you so strongly defending that person?

            • @FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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              169 months ago

              @CableMonster believes he should decide who lives and dies, probably deserves to be on a watchlist as a potential mass murderer.

              • @CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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                -299 months ago

                You are the one that wanted the racist pedo to attack the minor, I am saying he should defend himself. Would it have been a better outcome of instead of the pedo dying he raped another minor or murdered a minor? Which one?

                • @FiniteBanjo@lemmy.today
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                  129 months ago

                  Murdered a minor who instead shot and murdered two people as was his plan, or even better still Kyle should have stayed the fuck home and not committed multiple homicide over his political beliefs that black lives in fact did not matter. Did you really think I was going to sit here and tell you one murder was worse than multiple murders?

                  • @CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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                    -299 months ago

                    Let me get this straight, you would rather one minor die, than have the two attackers (one pedo, one domestic violence) survive? Thats pretty telling…

                    I am going to take the pro-minor anti-racist pedo stance. I guess you are picking the pro-pedo side…

      • @CableMonster@lemmy.ml
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        -39 months ago

        Sure, it puts into context the attitude of the first individual he killed. People dont really seem to care about how he chased down and tried to grab the gun of a minor, so the next best part is to point out how he was a criminal that was again trying to harm a minor, for at least the 6th time.