Following a confrontation at the University of Memphis, students allegedly booed Kyle Rittenhouse during a scheduled speaking engagement on campus. The planned speech quickly transformed into a hasty question-and-answer session, culminating in Rittenhouse being swiftly escorted offstage.
As CBS News reports, Rittenhouse was invited as a speaker by the University of Memphis chapter of Turning Point USA, a conservative group run by Charlie Kirk, who has been accused of making several racially inflammatory comments.
Rittenhouse has become a gun rights advocate following the controversial acquittal of felony charges he faced for fatally shooting two and injuring another at a Black Lives Matter protest in 2020. Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time of the shootings, traveled to the protest with an AR-15 in tow after a Kenosha, Illinois-based militia called for help protecting businesses during protests.
Rittenhouse’s relationship with Turning Point goes back to 2021, when they quickly began positioning him as a rising star in the organization following his acquittal. At the time, Ashley Pratte Oates characterized the group’s glorification of Rittenhouse as “dangerous” in an op-ed for NBC News.
As Commercial Appeal reports, the University of Memphis said ahead of the event, which was held on March 20, that it could not legally stop Rittenhouse from making his speech due to the protections of the First Amendment.
“The upcoming event at the University of Memphis featuring Kyle Rittenhouse is not sponsored by the university. A registered student organization, University of Memphis TPUSA, is hosting the event,” a University of Memphis spokesperson told the outlet.
The spokesperson added, “Under the first amendment and Tennessee’s Campus Free Speech Act, the University of Memphis cannot legally prohibit such events from being hosted by a registered student organization.”
The event, which was met with criticism, morphed into a protest
outside of the event. Students who attended the event characterized Rittenhouse’s speech as closer to hate speech than free speech.Franko Coleman, a University of Memphis student, told WREG, “They’re portraying him like this icon for the gun people.” Coleman added, “We already have enough gun violence in Memphis itself, so having this guy come here and spread racist views and also talking about how we need more guns on the street…I think it’s awful, just baffling, that they allow this. Because this is borderline free speech, but this is more toward hate speech.”
On his Twitter/X account, Rittenhouse said in a video that his evening in Memphis was “interesting” and questioned media reports that said he was booed off the stage, insisting instead that a hard cut-off occurred.
Contrary to his claims, however, are several videos captured at the event which depict a swift end to Rittenhouse’s speaking engagement without the audience being informed of the alleged hard cut off.
Protestors, meanwhile, celebrated the early end to Rittenhouse’s night, singing part of Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars’ hit song “Uptown Funk” after the event ended prematurely. Rittenhouse’s scheduled event at Kent State is currently facing similar criticism as his event at the University of Memphis.
A petition is currently circulating online regarding Rittenhouse’s appearance.
“As a member of the Kent State community, I am deeply concerned about an upcoming event hosted by student organization Turning Point USA, which will feature Kyle Rittenhouse as a guest,” Ally Greco, who is listed as the organizer of the petition, writes. “Rittenhouse is a controversial figure who shot three men, two fatally, during civil protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020. These individuals were protesting the shooting of a Black man by a white police officer.”
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