Rittenhouse: It Was A ‘Set Up’ — ‘Didn’t Know the OK Hand Sign Was A Symbol for White Supremacy’

By
David Rufful
-
OPINION | This article contains the author's opinion.

Kyle Rittenhouse is accused of taking a photograph with individuals linked to the white supremacist group called “Proud Boys,” but the teenager says it was a setup.

“I thought they were just a bunch of construction dudes based on how they looked,” Rittenhouse explained.

Rittenhouse says his lawyer was responsible and fired over the issue.

He is also accused of holding up an “OK” hand symbol, which has been considered a symbol of hate and white supremacy since 2019.

“I didn’t know that the OK hand sign was a symbol for white supremacy,” Rittenhous explained. “Just as I didn’t know those people in the bar were Proud Boys.”

“They were set up by my former attorney, who was fired because of that, for putting me in situations like that with people I don’t agree with by having them set up for security without telling us their background.”

“If I had known that they were Proud Boys, I would have said absolutely not.”

Watch the clip:

The White House is standing by Joe Biden’s false statement that claims Kyle Rittenhouse is a white supremacist.

In September 2020, then-candidate Biden shared an image of Rittenhouse along with a caption that read, “There’s no other way to put it.”

“The President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage last night,” Biden said of Trump’s defense of Rittenhouse.

Rittenhouse was found not guilty on grounds of self-defense, which Trump correctly predicted over a year ago.

Following the not-guilty verdict, Fox News reporter Peter Doocy pressed White House press secretary Jen Psaki on the issue.

She attempted to dodge the question about whether Biden would apologize to Rittenhouse after he was found not guilty of murder. Biden previously admitted that he was “angry and concerned” over the not-guilty verdict in the trial.

Psaki responded, “He [Biden] has obviously condemned the hatred and the division and violence we’ve seen around the country by groups like the Proud Boys and groups that that individual has posed for photos with.”

Psaki then blamed President Donald Trump of “actively” encouraging white supremacists and militia during his presidency.

“What we have seen are the tragic consequences of that when people think it’s ok to take the law in their own hands instead of allowing law enforcement to do its job,” she said.

Despite Psaki’s claim, prosecutors were unable in court to show Rittenhouse has any link to Proud Boys, according to NBC.

Here’s Biden post in 2020:

“It’s actual malice,” Kyle Rittenhouse responded in reaction to Biden, adding that he has really good lawyers looking into it.

“Defaming my character for him to say something like that,” Rittenhouse said during an interview with Fox News.

“There is nothing in this evidence that would support that the shootings were race-based,” Attorney Cory Chirafisi explained. “We are hoping to try this case on the facts,” which the judge agreed to.

Rittenhouse says he was “set up” when taking a photo with individuals who were linked to Proud Boys.