Kyle Rittenhouse spoke out on Tuesday from a juvenile facility in Vernon Hills, Illinois, where he is being held on six criminal counts, including two of first degree homicide and one of attempted homicide.
The video: One of Rittenhouse’s attorneys shared a video to Twitter on Tuesday in which the 17-year-old delivers a message to his supporters by speakerphone.
According to Fox News, the attorney, John Pierce, confirmed Rittenhouse was the person on the other end of the line.
- To the “fans”: “I just want to thank every single one of you from the bottom of my heart for the underlying support,” Rittenhouse said after being asked what he’d like to say to “the fans.”
- A promise: “I’m going to be out of here soon, and stay strong.”
- Self-defense: “If this is not self-defense for Kyle Rittenhouse under the circumstances, then no one can protect themselves, no one can protect their family and no one can protect their country,” Pierce added after Rittenhouse spoke.
The shooting: Rittenhouse, a police enthusiast from Antioch, Illinois, allegedly shot three people, killing two of them, during a riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin on Aug. 25, which he has said he attended to help protect local businesses.
- Citing livestream footage of the incident, a number of influential conservatives, including Fox News host Tucker Carlson, have voiced support for Rittenhouse, characterizing his actions as self-defense.
President Donald Trump offered his first public comments on Rittenhouse during a press conference on Monday, saying the shooting incident in Kenosha was “an interesting situation.”
- “You saw the same tape as I saw. And he was trying to get away from them. I guess it looks like he fell and then they very violently attacked him. And it was something that we’re looking at right now, and it’s under investigation,” Trump told reporters. “But I guess he was in very big trouble. He would have been — probably would have been killed, but it’s under investigation.”
- Trump also promoted a tweet that called Rittenhouse “a good example of why I decided to vote for Trump.”
Rittenhouse is being represented by Pierce Bainbridge, a law firm that has previously defended Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani and former adviser Carter Page in the past.
- Defense attorney Lin Wood has also joined Rittenhouse’s legal team.
- Wood, who was once described by former CBS anchor Dan Rather as “the attorney for the damned,” helped Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann sue CNN, The Washington Post and other media outlets for defamation last year.
