Kyle Rittenhouse’s appearance sparks frenzy as fundraiser for Kentucky GOP candidate kicked out of venue amid death threats

A Republican House candidate in Kentucky has moved an upcoming campaign event after receiving death threats over a planned appearance by Kyle Rittenhouse, who remains infamous for fatally shooting two men during protests in Wisconsin four years ago.

Rittenhouse, now a major conservative gun activist, was scheduled to attend a fundraiser in Covington, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, to announce his support for GOP House candidate TJ Roberts, a Boone County attorney who supports gun rights possession of a weapon.

But on Thursday, Roberts announced that his campaign was forced to withdraw from the event after someone online “threatened to shoot Kyle at the event,” according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.

A representative from Covington’s Metropolitan Club, the original venue for the fundraiser, said the event was scheduled for late September but was moved after the announcement of a speaker who may not have agreed with the club’s mission of unity.

Organizers of the $150 minimum fundraiser quickly decided to continue the event despite receiving support from the exclusive club.

Rittenhouse is still listed as a special guest at the event, which has been rescheduled for Oct. 9 at Smokin’ This and That BBQ in Florence, a deeply conservative neighborhood about 25 miles southwest of Covington that former President Donald Trump won in the 2020 election with 67% of the votes.

Roberts is campaigning to succeed Republican Steve Rawlings in Kentucky House District 66. He won the GOP primary against former state Republican Ed Massey and will face Democrat Peggy Houston-Nienaber in the November election.

Roberts said the violent threats included phone calls to him, his supporters and the Metropolitan Club host, all in connection with Rittenhouse’s planned appearance.

According to Roberts, the club called an emergency board meeting and decided the event posed too much of a safety risk for him to handle.

Still, Roberts sharply criticized the decision to move the event from the upscale venue, which charges membership fees, enforces a formal dress code and offers sweeping views of the Ohio River and the Cincinnati skyline.

“The Metropolitan Club, our original location, buckled under pressure and bent the knee to far-left activists and violent extremists… As a result of their pressure and threats of violence, the venue bowed to mob intimidation,” Roberts wrote in X.

He praised the new venue for agreeing to host the event, noting that the restaurant has private security and that Roberts will be in contact with police regarding any security concerns.

“The owner of this place is a true patriot who believes in free speech and will not bow to the WOKE crowd,” Roberts said.

Democrat Peggy Houston-Nienaber, who is challenging Roberts, criticized her opponent for undermining his own campaign by associating with polarizing figures like Rittenhouse.

“Boone County is not a place for extremism. “The majority of people in Boone County are normal, moderate Republicans who just want to help people, go home, make a living and support their families … so they’re not interested in extremism,” she said, according to the Enquirer. “He just wants to shock so he can be on the news.”

Roberts’ post on X also received backlash against X, with many reacting harshly to the GOP candidate for wanting to associate him with Rittenhouse.

“Why the hell would anyone even want to be around this murderous little idiotic worm??? He’s as dumb as a houseplant. If his claim to fame comes from killing where he had no business doing so, then he’s seriously screwed. It’s just a piece of garbage,” wrote one user. “STFU. You did it yourself. It’s disgusting that he was present at such a fundraiser. Shame on you,” wrote another.

Rittenhouse, acquitted in the 2020 deaths of two men and the wounding of a third during a violent night of protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, has since become a lightning rod in politics, lauded by right-wing gun control advocates but lambasted by supporters who still believe that he escaped justice.

On the night of the shooting, Rittenhouse traveled about an hour from his Illinois apartment to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he picked up an assault weapon from a friend’s house. From there, he drove himself to the scene of the riots and shot three people in the presence of the police, who did not immediately arrest him.

The standoff sparked by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old black man from Kenosha who survived being shot multiple times in the back, and was further escalated by the murder of George Floyd several months earlier by white Minneapolis police officer Derek. Chauvin.

At the time, Rittenhouse was a 17-year-old young police cadet who claimed he went to Kenosha armed with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle to protect property from rioters and provide medical assistance.

Three years after his 2021 acquittal, Rittenhouse has rebranded himself as a Second Amendment supporter while allying with MAGA extremists and gun fanatics.

Just last month, he made headlines when he announced he would write Libertarian Ron Paul on the presidential ballot. However, after a backlash from some conservatives who called him a “traitor”, he quickly changed his position and supported Trump.

In another recent controversy, Rittenhouse was scheduled to perform at a charity music festival later this month, but several metal bands pulled out after it was discovered that he was a featured guest.

After concert organizers revealed that Rittenhouse was one of several influential Second Amendment supporters invited to the event, headliner Evergreen Terrace announced: “We will not associate with an event that promotes murderers like Kyle Rittenhouse exploiting his pseudo-celebrity. “

The Shell Shock II concert is still scheduled for October 19 in Orlando, despite the fact that a cover band has been brought in as the headliner, as well as the replacement of eight bands – essentially the entire musical lineup – due to Rittenhouse’s participation.

“The woke crowd tried to cancel Shell Shock because Kyle Rittenhouse would be in attendance,” Tyler Hoover, the event’s founder, said in a statement. “They bullied ALL the bands into leaving the show. We will not discriminate against anyone. Anyone who wants to come to Shell Shock is most welcome. This is not a conservative event. This is an American event.”

Let it Bleed, one of the bands that canceled the show, released a statement online saying that “the use of problematic and potentially alienating actors to promote the show is something we simply cannot tolerate.”

In June, Rittenhouse was dragged online after announcing his participation in a shooting tournament in Texas in September.

In a recent interview in which far-right conspiracy theorist and radio host Alex Jones called him a “self-defense icon,” Rittenhouse boasted that he had received “thousands” of death threats in response to the outcome of his criminal case.

“People wrote to me: ‘I’ll come to your house.’ I will kill you,’” Rittenhouse said.

– Are you packing already? Jones asked.

Rittenhouse pulled out his gun and handed it to Jones for him to admire.

“One is in the pipe,” Rittenhouse said.

Rittenhouse was previously charged with the killings in Kenosha after body camera footage showed him shooting three people during a fight that broke out during the riot.

In November 2021, he went on trial on charges of murder, attempted murder and reckless endangerment, and after almost four days of deliberations, the jury returned a shocking verdict of acquittal.

Rittenhouse previously faced life in prison for the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and the wounding of Gaige Grosskreutz, who survived.

During the trial, Rittenhouse took the stand in his own defense, claiming that he fired an AR-15-style rifle in self-defense and that he feared for his life during the chaos. Rittenhouse said the men tried to kill him. Rosenbaum, he testified, chased him and grabbed his rifle.

Huber and Grosskreutz joined the chase. Huber hit him with a skateboard, and Grosskreutz admitted pointing the gun at Rittenhouse, although he said it was not intentional.

The verdict came two days after Rittenhouse’s lawyers urged the judge to throw out a mistrial, saying the defense team received an inferior copy of the potentially critical video from prosecutors.

Earlier, Rittenhouse also was charged with possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18, a misdemeanor that Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed before the jury began deliberating.

The Rittenhouse case has become a major flashpoint in the debate about guns, racial injustice, self-defense and self-defense.

Conservative voices across the country, including those on Fox News and then-President Trump, immediately hailed the teenager as a hero, saying he was exercising his Second Amendment right to bear arms during the shooting.

While awaiting trial, former actor Rick Schroeder helped pay for his bail, and more than $2 million was raised for his legal defense.