Accused Teen Gunman Sat in Front Row at Trump Rally
The Trump campaign is forcefully putting space between their candidate and Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year old charged with shooting and killing two people and injuring another in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during protests for Jacob Blake on Tuesday night. But there's no denying the teenager's support of the President.
Last January, BuzzFeed reports, the teen appeared in the front row of a Trump rally in Des Moines, Iowa.
"Kyle Howard Rittenhouse's social media presence is filled with him posing with weapons, posting 'Blue Lives Matter,' and supporting Trump for president," writes BuzzFeed News. "Footage from the Des Moines, Iowa, rally on Jan. 30 shows Rittenhouse feet away from the president, in the front row, to the left of the podium. He posted a TikTok video from the event."
On Wednesday night Rittenhouse carried his rifle to the third night of demonstrations in the wake of the shooting of Jacob Blake, now paralyzed and recovering in the hospital. "Rittenhouse attended as an armed vigilante, supposedly assisting police and protecting property in an unofficial capacity. Instead, he allegedly prowled the protest with a gun. Videos captured him fraternizing with law enforcement and attempting to get their attention," BuzzFeed News reports.
His assault of protesters was captured on video, which included such chilling footage of him shooting victims and passing police vehicles who ignore him, despite him walking through a violent scene with a rifle hanging from his belt. He then fled to across the state border and was arrested on Wednesday in Antioch, IL, where he lived with his mother and siblings and worked as a lifeguard at the local YMCA.
When asked by BuzzFeed News, Trump 2020 campaign spokesperson Tim Murtaugh said: "President Trump has repeatedly and consistently condemned all forms of violence and believes we must protect all Americans from chaos and lawlessness. This individual had nothing to do with our campaign and we fully support our fantastic law enforcement for their swift action in this case."
"A close look at his social media accounts and background show a teenager obsessed with law enforcement who also identified as a strong supporter of President Donald Trump and 'Blue Lives Matter,' a pro-law enforcement movement that evolved in response to Black Lives Matter."
It was also confirmed he was a former member of the Lindenhurst, Grayslake, Hainesville Police Department's Public Safety Cadet Program, a program designed to offer teens "hands-on" exposure to law enforcement. The program's website was taken down on Wednesday after a 2018 picture of a young man named "Kyle" dressed in a police uniform began circulating online. BuzzFeed News has not been able to confirm that the boy in the image is Rittenhouse.
"On his now-deleted Facebook page," BuzzFeed News continues, "Rittenhouse is seen posing with an AR-15-style rifle above the words 'Blue Lives Matter.' Nearly all of his public Facebook posts are related to the movement, including two posts in memory of officers who were killed in the line of duty. On Dec. 22, 2018, he asked his friends to donate to 'Humanizing the Badge,' a 'nonprofit organization seeking to forge stronger relationships between law enforcement officers and the communities they serve.' "