Kyle Rittenhouse event draws over 100 protesters to University of Memphis campus
By: Rose Ragsdale
Kyle Rittenhouse, a gun rights activist who was acquitted after fatally shooting two and wounding another at a police accountability rally in Kenosha, Wisconsin in 2020, faced hundreds of protesters and a large police presence for his March 20 “Rittenhouse Recap” speaking event at the University of Memphis.
The event, organized by the university’s Turning Point USA student chapter, drew protesters from the UofM student body and larger Memphis community. Protesters gathered at the University Center theater entrance to voice their opposition.
University of Memphis senior Kelsey Mack (right)
“I’m really upset at my university,” said senior Kelsey Mack. “I feel like you have made this an unsafe place for us. You are inviting white supremacists to our university on our campus and giving them a public platform to speak and I don’t think that’s right.”
Protesters handed out flyers displaying Rittenhouse’s mugshot and charges. Additional pages showed the names of the three men shot by Rittenhouse in August 2020 when he was 17. Rittenhouse came to the Wisconsin rally armed with an AR-15 style rifle. A jury found him not guilty, accepting his argument that he shot the men in self-defense after a group of protesters had swarmed toward him.
Rittenhouse leaflets distributed by protesters.
Due to ticket invalidations on the morning of the event, many who initially had tickets could not enter the theater. However, both protesters and supporters whose tickets had been invalidated managed to attend the event.
“I’m less curious to see what he has to say than I am to see what this looks like,” said local contractor David Metzger as he gestured to the large crowd.
The protest was not the only show of dissatisfaction with the event. Eli Ostrow, the student who invited Rittenhouse to speak, had his name, phone number, and home address posted on social media as part of a practice known as doxing in which a subject’s private information is published, generally to cause him or her harm.
Eli Ostrow post.
Below this information there was the following call to action: “Let him know how you feel about his decision to provoke black students by inviting a racist murderer on campus.”
Keith Humphrey, the University of Memphis Police Chief, said the university made a report of the incident.
Regarding Ostrow’s safety, Humphrey said, “If it is anything additional, we will reach out for other law enforcement officers to help us.” Ostrow declined to comment.
Rittenhouse reportedly left the theater after 30 minutes of Q&A. He was then greeted by protesters outside the University Center chanting “Kyle is a killer.” The protesters then began running toward the Zach Curlin parking garage where Rittenhouse was escorted by law enforcement officers.
Protesters in the parking garage chanting, “No justice, no peace.”
Austin Kimpel, one of the protesters involved, said it was his “civic duty” to join the group of protesters in the garage.
“I’m a straight white dude, ya’know? If I’ve got the privilege, I’m gonna use it to the best of my ability to defend people that think like me but don’t look like me,” said Kimpel.
At the garage exit protesters began spitting on, hitting, and physically blocking cars that were leaving the event. Both campus and state police arrived at the scene and directed protesters to disperse and return to the theater.
Rittenhouse has since denied allegations that he was booed off stage, saying in a post on X, “The headlines are wrong again – I wasn't booed off stage at the University of Memphis last night.”
The day after the protest Charlie Kirk, the founder and CEO of TPUSA, stated he felt there may have been sabotage by the University of Memphis. In a post on X, he said, “We (TPUSA) may also file our own lawsuit on viewpoint discrimination. Stay tuned!”
It is unclear what legal action TPUSA will take, but Kirk and members of the TPUSA student organization expressed disappointment with how the event was handled.
Rittenhouse spoke at Western Kentucky University on March 27 and is scheduled to speak April 16 at Kent State University where student opposition is also mounting.