A few months after being acquitted of 1st degree murder, Kyle Rittenhouse has decided to take aim at everyone who criticized him. This includes “politicians, celebrities, [and] athletes.”
Rittenhouse, a darling of far-right pundits and politicians, announced a “Media Accountability Project” which aims to sue people who called him a murderer.
The announcement came Monday, during an interview with the teen.
Kyle Rittenhouse says he will sue Whoopi Goldberg and other 'celebrities' for calling him a murdererhttps://trib.al/Hj0uig5— Daily Mail Online (@Daily Mail Online) 1645526403
Rittenhouse was charged with multiple crimes after shooting and killing two men and injuring another during the 2020 Kenosha protests.
After news of the shooting, Rittenhouse became the flashpoint of another culture war battle, with those on the right seeing him as a hero protecting a city. However, others criticized his actions, as he was protecting a car dealership he wasn't asked to, in a city he didn’t live in and ended the lives of two men over it.
The jury acquitted Rittenhouse of 1st degree murder. In most jurisdictions in the United States there is a hierarchy of homicidal acts, of which first-degree murder and felony murder are the most serious, followed by second-degree murder, in a few states third-degree murder, then voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.
Legal experts posited the charge of 1st degree murder was a mistake unlikely to garner a conviction while 2nd degree murder or manslaughter were far more likely to.
During an interview on Tucker Carlson’s show, Rittenhouse announced plans to “hold the media accountable for the lies they said and deal with them in court.” Of course, he said this on Carlson’s show, a media program where Carlson regularly lies.
No one took the announcement seriously.
I DARE Kyle Rittenhouse to sue Whoopi Goldberg for defamation for calling him a "murderer," so that her attorneys will get to depose him and we will get some good names of those helping him.— Amee Vanderpool (@Amee Vanderpool) 1645565845
That little turd Kyle Rittenhouse is gonna sue Whoopi Goldberg, because she called him a murderer. \n\nI can't wait to see this little POS get thrown out of court.pic.twitter.com/KEqB9p0jgl— \ud83d\udcab\u2728THEE\ud83c\udf1f Common\ud83c\udf1f Sense \ud83c\udf1fGuru\u2728\ud83d\udcab (@\ud83d\udcab\u2728THEE\ud83c\udf1f Common\ud83c\udf1f Sense \ud83c\udf1fGuru\u2728\ud83d\udcab) 1645549722
If Kyle Rittenhouse can sue CNN and Whoopi Goldberg for "lying" about him this opens FOX to a big old class action lawsuit from everyone they've lied about.— Michael Swartz (@Michael Swartz) 1645550734
Live look at the lawyer taking up this casepic.twitter.com/Iri92QdyDa— Collie Cam (@Collie Cam) 1645658637
Kyle Rittenhousepic.twitter.com/Ixog3CIHnO— CHRISTIE KERR (@CHRISTIE KERR) 1645495382
Kyle Rittenhouse is upset about being called a while supremacist so he\u2019s going to sue LeBron James for tweeting he ate lemon heads before going on the stand?pic.twitter.com/2PCfQBO1ug— PatriotTakes \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@PatriotTakes \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1645663783
The main targets of Rittenhouse’s plans included Whoopi Goldberg, who referred to him as a murderer after he was acquitted of 1st degree murder, and LeBron James who made fun of the fake crying Rittenhouse displayed while on the stand during the trial.
Many felt the case was also tainted by a judge overly friendly to Rittenhouse during the trial. This included criticizing a prosecutor for going into a line of questioning about a video of Rittenhouse expressing a desire to shoot looters.
Because of all this as well as video footage of the night he killed two men, there are many people still calling Rittenhouse a murderer.
Kyle Rittenhouse to sue everyone because he's not getting enough attention for getting away with killing two people.— LOLGOP (@LOLGOP) 1645663943
Kyle Rittenhouse said he plans to sue Whoopi Goldberg, CNN & Lebron James for "defamation." He said it on Fox News -- the network that defamed Obama & Hillary for 20 years. Kyle Rittenhouse is a murderer. But he reminded me that Clinton & Obama should sue Fox News for defamation.— Uncovering The Truth (@Uncovering The Truth) 1645571769
White privilege is so pronounced that Kyle Rittenhouse is trying to sue people for calling him a murderer\u2014after he murdered two people.— Jason Elias (@Jason Elias) 1645646786
No matter what he says or does, Kyle Rittenhouse is still a murderer.— Avenger Resister (@Avenger Resister) 1645498168
If Kyle Rittenhouse is a hero to you, you've failed the adult human test.— John Pavlovitz (@John Pavlovitz) 1645505170
Kyle Rittenhouse is a murderer. Pass it on.https://twitter.com/imspeaking13/status/1496670654497759240\u00a0\u2026— Just Jen \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Resister (@Just Jen \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 Resister) 1645669810
Rittenhouse is seeking to use the project to fundraise. Nothing else has been defined besides fundraising and promises to sue.
Despite these claims, legal experts don’t believe the lawsuits would go anywhere.