Kyle Rittenhouse, who was recently found not guilty on charges of homicide, attempted homicide, and several other charges related to the August 2020 shooting in Kenosha, WI, is under fire by students of Arizona State University.
According to The Sacramento Bee, at least four student organizations at the school were requesting that Rittenhouse be removed as a student. The organizations that demanded the move were Students for Socialism, Students for Justice in Palestine, the Multicultural Solidarity Coalition, and MECHA de ASU.
Students from the organizations originally planned to protest the 18-year-old’s enrollment on campus on Dec. 1. But, according to AZ Central
, Arizona State University confirmed that Rittenhouse is not currently enrolled, ASU spokesperson Jay Thorne wrote in an email. ““There was no action taken by the university,” added Thorne, who did not say whether Rittenhouse withdrew from classes or why his enrollment status changed.
Rittenhouse told Ashleigh Banfield in an interview on NewsNation that he took a “compassionate withdrawal” from two classes “because I got overwhelmed with trial coming on.” He added that “next semester that opens up, I’m going to re-enroll in those classes just so I can finish them up and pursue my career in nursing,” he said.
During Rittenhouse’s trial, he mentioned that he was enrolled online at the university, thought the student organizations wanted to make sure he wasn’t allowed on campus, which is something Rittenhouse told Banfield he wanted to do. The groups also demanded that ASU take a stand against white supremacy and further encourage multicultural spaces on campus. There is an online petition on Change.org that Kyle Rittenhouse should not be allowed to attend ASU.
More than 10,000 people who have signed the petition.
Although word circulated that Rittenhouse was not currently enrolled, the rally, however, is still scheduled to take place Wednesday.