Former United States President Donald Trump said that he met Kyle Rittenhouse, who was recently found not guilty of murder after fatally shooting two men in Kenosha last year, whom he said was a "nice young man."
In an interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity on Tuesday night, Trump said that he was able to get to know the young man better during their meeting. The former U.S. president said that Rittenhouse was a fan who wanted to know if he could come over and say hello to the Republican businessman.
Trump Meets Rittenhouse
Recently, a Kenosha jury cleared Rittenhouse on all five charges related to his violent actions on Aug. 25 last year when he fatally shot two men at protests over the unjust shooting of Black man, Jacob Blake by a White Kenosha police officer.
During the trial, the now-18-year-old was facing charges of reckless homicide in the death of 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum and intentional homicide in the shooting death of 26-year-old Anthony Huber. Additionally, Rittenhouse was facing a charge of attempted intentional homicide after shooting 27-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz and causing severe wounds on the paramedic, NBC News reported.
Rittenhouse allegedly visited former U.S. President Trump at the latter's Palm Beach, Florida, resort. A photograph of Trump with the young teenager was shared during the Republican businessman's interview with Hannity.
Trump said that Rittenhouse came to Mar-a-Lago with his mother and said that what the 18-year-old went through was prosecutorial misconduct. The former U.S. president said that the young man should have suffered such a trial.
The deliberation of the 12-juror panel lasted for more than 25 hours in the case that was closely watched by the entire nation. It ultimately ended on Friday when the suspect, 18-year-old Rittenhouse, was acquitted of first-degree intentional homicide and four other felony charges in a verdict that cannot be appealed, CNN reported.
Before visiting Trump, Rittenhouse had an interview with Tucker Carlson, portions of which were aired on Monday. During the meeting, the young man said that he was not a racist and argued that was a supporter of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Offers of Internships
"This case has nothing to do with race. It never had anything to do with race. It had to do with the right to self-defense. I'm not a racist person. I support the BLM movement. I support peacefully demonstrating," said Rittenhouse during the interview, Yahoo News reported.
In another interview with Ashleigh Banfield that aired on Tuesday, Rittenhouse was asked about the several offers of internships from far-right members of Congress. The list of individuals who offered him the internship includes Reps. Matt Gaetz, Madison Cawthorn, and Paul Gosar.
The 18-year-old man said that he was not planning on accepting any of the internships that were offered to him. Rittenhouse revealed that he did not want to get involved in American politics at all.
The teenager was also asked about a photograph that showed members of the Proud Boys with the acquitted suspect making a hand gesture that white supremacists used. Rittenhouse said he did not know that the sign shown in the picture was for white supremacy and added that he was unaware the people he was photographed with were members of the Proud Boys.
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