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 collegeā€™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 Rittenhouseā€™s presence.

The 21-year-old gained notoriety in August 2020 when, at the age of 17, heĀ shot and killed two menā€”Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, as well as injuring 26-year-old Gaige Grosskreutzā€”at a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

He said theĀ three shootings, carried out with a semi-automaticĀ AR-15-style firearm, were in self-defense. TheĀ Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest where the shootings took place was held afterĀ Jacob Blake, a Black man, was left paralyzed from the waist down after he was shot by a white police officer.

  • skozzii@lemmy.ca
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    9 months ago

    Last I checked taking a gun to a place specifically to kill someone is murder, yup, even if our jurors decided they are not criminally liable , still a murderer, just not convicted.

    • itsgoodtobeawake@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      I had a related conversation not long ago with a friend that took exception to me saying US troops ā€œmurderā€ people. His argument was that its a legal term and not accurate in that context. Which is probably true, but i dont think Im ever going to let go of killing people= murder regardless of what the law says.

      • Notyou@sopuli.xyz
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        9 months ago

        i dont think Im ever going to let go of killing people= murder regardless of what the law says.

        Not trying to change your mind one way or the other, but could I ask clarifying questions?

        Iā€™m sure you have a definition for what ā€œkillingā€ is to justify your beliefs, but like what is it?

        Are drunks that kill people while they are blacked out murders?

        What about giving someone peanuts that die from allergies? Does it matter if they didnā€™t know about the allergy?

        What about doctors killing people in the OR?

        Or a baby killing their mom during childbirth?

        Are all these people murders because they killed someone?

        Wanted to edit real quick. Iā€™m not trying to claim Rittenhouse didnā€™t have a mindset to murder someone. Idk about what the legal definition is, he went there trying to kill someone so I could agree calling him a murder.

      • III@lemmy.world
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        9 months ago

        The definition is ā€œunlawful and premeditatedā€. So for people in the military, definitely premeditated. Unlawful raises the interesting concept of ā€œunlawful according to whoā€. IMO, someone out there deems it unlawful.

      • bloom_of_rakes@lemm.ee
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        9 months ago

        If you pay taxes then you might be considered an accessory to murder. Unless you consider taxes to be theft, of course.