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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    9 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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      9 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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            9 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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              9 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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                9 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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                  9 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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                  9 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.