Who has helped Kyle Rittenhouse to pay bail and get out of jail and why?
Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old who is charged with killing two people in Kenosha, Wisconsin, was released on bond Friday with the help of celebrities.
Kyle Rittenhouse was released on a $2 million bond paid for with the help of donations to a fund set up by his attorney. Two of the people that were thanked for putting the fund over the top were Mike Lindell, the My Pillow guy, and actor Ricky Schroder.
In late August Kenosha, Wisconsin became another city in the grip of turmoil after the shooting of Jacob Blake by police seven times in the back. This led to an outbreak of peaceful protests by day and vandalism by night. Kyle Rittenhouse, a teen from Illinois but with ties to Kenosha, decided to take matters into his own hands and went to the protests on the night of 25 August armed with an assault rifle where an altercation ensued with the crowd present. In the end, two people were fatally shot and a third gravely injured by Rittenhouse.
Self-defense or a vigilante
Rittenhouse was being held at a county detention in Kenosha, where he had been in the custody since being extradited from Illinois, until his release Friday afternoon. Kyle Rittenhouse is accused of intentional homicide after fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber and wounding Gaige Grosskreutz. Rittenhouse told police he was attacked while he was guarding a business and that he fired in self-defense.
He is due back in court on Dec. 3 for a preliminary hearing.
His case has become something of a cause célèbre for conservatives. Rittenhouse is seen as a folk hero for exercising his right to bear arms while protecting property during the disturbances in Kenosha. Rittenhouse, a minor, was in illegal possession of a fire arm under both Wisconsin and Illinois state law. During the protests, several militia groups converged on Kenosha with the stated aim of protecting property.
After the shooting there was much speculation about Rittenhouse’s attachment to the militias and white supremacists. He is viewed as a white supremacist by supporters of the Black Lives Matter movement.
Who helped bail out Kyle Rittenhouse?
The Fight Back Foundation was co-founded by Lin Wood, one of Rittenhouse’s attorneys. The foundation which says “We fight back to protect individual rights and stop those who would use political power to attack constitutional rights,” set up a fund for Rittenhouse’s legal defense. In a tweet Wood said that the fund was put “over the top” with help from actor Ricky Schroder and Mike Lindell, CEO of My Pillow.
Why did they donate to the legal fund?
Neither of the two most famous donors has made a public comment as of yet. Rittenhouse has acquired hero status in conservative circles which would explain the donations.
Ricky Schroder’s support of conservative-leaning causes came as a shock to many of his fans. Although Schroder, the childhood TV sitcom star from the ‘80s show “Silver Spoons” has not made any comment on why he donated to the fund he did appear in a picture with Rittenhouse and John Pierce, another lawyer for Rittenhouse, tweeted out by Lin Wood. Schroder was apparently not shy about his participation re-posting the tweet on Parler as he has abandoned Twitter.
Parler is a new social media app and has seen its membership skyrocket since the election. As many conservative pundits complain about censorship by Facebook and Twitter over unfounded claims of voter fraud. There has been a campaign to cancel accountants on those platforms and migrate to Parler.
In the case of Mike Lindell there wasn’t much surprise. He is a vocal supporter of President Donald Trump working with his re-election campaign. He is also not a fan of the Black Lives Matter movement, when advertisers abandoned Fox News host Tuck Carlson over comments regarding Black Lives Matters, Lindell was outspoken about his support for Carlson.