Kyle Rittenhouse breaks silence in 'tweet heard 'round the world,' lawyer says: 'I'm going to be out of here soon'
Teenager issued many thanks
September 02, 2020
Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images
Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old facing murder charges after reportedly killing two people and wounding a third person during Kenosha, Wisconsin, riots last week, has spoken out to thank his supporters, according to his lawyer.
Rittenhouse is being tried as an adult, and faces multiple charges, including first-degree reckless homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
His lawyer, John Pierce, said Rittenhouse acted in self-defense during the riots, following Jacob Blake's police shooting on Aug. 23
What are the details?
Pierce shared video footage of a conversation he purported to be between him and Rittenhouse.
The caller can be heard on the phone saying, "I just wanna thank every single one of you from the bottom of my heart for the underlying support. I just want to thank all of you for the mail I've been receiving. It's been really helpful."
Urging his supporters to remain strong, Rittenhouse added, "I'm going to be out of here soon. "
In the video, Pierce can be heard saying, "If this is not self-defense for Kyle Rittenhouse under the circumstances, then no one can protect themselves, no one can protect their family and no one can protect their country."
"We are not going to allow a prosecutor in Kenosha, Wisconsin, to take [God-given right of self-defense] away from Kyle," he adds.
Pierce shared the footage on Twitter, captioning it, "Kyle Rittenhouse speaks[!] This must be the tweet heard 'round the world[!] Retweet and donate to the #FightBack Foundation right now[!]"
Pierce told Fox News that the person on the other end of the phone was, indeed, Rittenhouse, and compared the teenager to the shooter who fired the "shot round the world," which triggered the American Revolution.
Anything else?
Despite a Facebook ban on users sharing the link, a crowdfunding page so far has raised more than $352,000 for Rittenhouse's legal defense.
The page states, "Kyle Rittenhouse just defended himself from a brutal attack by multiple members of the far-leftist group ANTIFA — the experience was undoubtedly a brutal one, as he was forced to take two lives to defend his own."
"Now, Kyle is being unfairly charged with murder 1, by a DA who seems determined only to capitalize on the political angle of the situation," the page continues. "The situation was clearly self-defense, and Kyle and his family will undoubtedly need money to pay for the legal fees."