Kyle Rittenhouse has said that he supports the Black Lives Matter movement and insisted that his case had nothing to do with race, as protests continue over his acquittal in Kenosha, Wisconsin and elsewhere.
‘This case has nothing to do with race. It had nothing to do with race, had to do with the right to self-defense,’ Rittenhouse told Fox News host Tucker Carlson in an interview filmed on Sunday.
‘I’m not a racist person, I support the BLM movement and peacefully demonstrating,’ the teen added in an advance clip of the interview, which is set to air on Monday night.
The teen spoke out as protests continued across the country over the not-guilty verdict, including in Kenosha, where marchers denounced the trial’s outcome as racist.
In a partial transcript of the interview provided to DailyMail.com, Rittenhouse also slammed the prosecution in his case, after a jury agreed he acted in justifiable self-defense in acquitting him of all charges.
‘I believe there’s a lot of prosecutorial misconduct, not just in my case but in other cases,’ said Rittenhouse. It’s just amazing to see how much a prosecutor can take advantage of someone.’
Kyle Rittenhouse has said that he supports the Black Lives Matter movement and insisted that his case had nothing to do with race, in an interview with Tucker Carlson due to air on Monday night
Rittenhouse was dressed in a suit and tie for the interview as the family dined at Smokin’ Jerry’s Tiki Hut Bar & Grill in Placida, Florida on Sunday afternoon
Protesters march around Kenosha near the court house on Sunday, the third day of protests over the verdict
Rittenhouse also described how he felt immediately after the shootings, including one confrontation with a pursuer who chased him with a gun.
‘I tell everybody there what happened. I said I had to do it. I was just attacked. I was dizzy, I was vomiting, I couldn’t breathe,’ he told Carlson.
Rittenhouse killed two men and wounded a third during confrontations amid anti-police protests in Kenosha last August, and testified that he acted in self-defense.
The case has polarized the nation, with furious accusations from the left that both Rittenhouse and the acquittal are racist, although he and the people who were shot were all white.
The teen’s interview with Tucker Carlson was believed to have been filmed on Sunday on Florida’s Gulf Coast, and on Sunday afternoon, Rittenhouse and his family were spotted having brunch in the area.
Rittenhouse was dressed in a suit and tie for the interview as the family dined at Smokin’ Jerry’s Tiki Hut Bar & Grill in Placida, Florida on Sunday afternoon.
The full Fox News interview will air on Carlson’s show Monday night, and the host’s unusual access to the teen was revealed after footage emerged that his team had been embedded with Rittenhouse during the trial.
The teen’s interview with Tucker Carlson was believed to have been filmed on Sunday on Florida’s Gulf Coast
BLM activists gather near the Kenosha County Courthouse before marching through the downtown. Several heavily armed people stood in the square among protesters keeping watch
Protestors gathering in opposition to the not guilty verdict in the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse near the Kenosha County courthouse in Kenosha on Sunday
Protests over the verdict continued on Sunday in Kenosha, where a group of around 150 people gathered in the Civic Center Park outside the courthouse where Rittenhouse was cleared to protest the verdict
In addition to Monday’s interview, online subscription service Fox Nation plans to air a documentary series on the case next month.
Rittenhouse’s trial attorney, Mark Richards, has said the Fox documentary crew was embedded with Rittenhouse’s team against his wishes, and suggested that the access was arranged by donors who contributed to his defense.
On Saturday a Fox News executive said the network did not pay Rittenhouse’s family for any special access during Rittenhouse’s murder trial or after his acquittal.
Justin Wells, senior executive producer of Tucker Carlson Tonight, told the AP that no payment was made for access, footage rights, legal fees or any other purpose to Rittenhouse or his family.
David Hancock, a spokesman for the Rittenhouse family, also said any potential payment by Fox ‘was never offered and it was never asked for and it was never discussed.’
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The intention of the documentary is to memorialize the experience that Rittenhouse had during the trial and to show people who he really is, he said.
Protests over the verdict continued on Sunday in Kenosha, where a group of around 150 people gathered in the Civic Center Park outside the courthouse where Rittenhouse was cleared to protest the verdict.
Chicago: Over a thousand demonstrators gathered at Federal Plaza in Chicago on Saturday to protest the acquittal
Chicago: Reverend Jesse Jackson (center), marches in protest of the not guilty verdict on Saturday
New York: About 200 protesters rally outside Barclays Center and march along Flatbush Avenue after Rittenhouse acquittal
Speakers warned of an economic boycott to force social change before marching some eight blocks around the lakeside city.
Eric Jordan and his 16-year-old daughter Jade walked with the marchers carrying assault-style rifles. ‘I’m an open-carry, Second Amendment-type guy,’ Jordan told DailyMail.com. ‘I carry when I pick oranges.
‘Everybody knows that I don’t go anywhere without it.’
Protestors carrying signs such as ‘Self Defense Is Not a Deliberate Headshot,’ ‘The Whole System is Guilty,’ and ‘F**k Kyle N His Freedom.’
They shouted ‘No Justice, No Peace,’ and ‘Say Their Names: Anthony and Jo Jo,’ referring to Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosebaum who were shot dead by Rittenhouse during protests against a police shooting in the town in August 2020.
The Rev. Jesse Jackson was due to join the march but did not attend in the end.
In his place was Bishop Tavis Grant, national field director of Jackson’s Rainbow PUSH Coalition, who said Jackson was talking to Congressional leaders about the possibility of charging Rittenhouse federally.
The protests in Kenosha have thus far remained peaceful, but in New York five were arrested on riot charges Friday after storming through a quiet neighborhood and vandalizing cars.
On Friday night, a group of 40 to 50 ‘anarchists’ tore through the quiet residential neighborhood of Middle Village, damaging cars (above) and ripping down American flags
In a visit to Middle Village on Saturday afternoon, Mayor-elect Eric Adams slammed the destructive behavior, saying that randomly targeting private citizens is out of bounds
On Friday night, a group of 40 to 50 ‘anarchists’ tore through the quiet Queens residential neighborhood of Middle Village, damaging property and ripping down American flags, officials said.
The middle-class neighborhood in Queens is known as conservative-leaning and sympathetic to the police, making it a ripe target for the ultra-leftist mob venting fury over the Rittenhouse acquittal.
In a visit to Middle Village on Saturday afternoon, Mayor-elect Eric Adams slammed the destructive behavior, saying that randomly targeting private citizens over political grievances is unacceptable.
Police in Portland, Oregon also declared a riot on Friday night, arresting one after demonstrators broke windows of businesses and vandalized a police car and precinct.
Video captured the moment protesters in Portland cornered police in a garage during riots over the Rittenhouse verdict.
The footage shows a crowd of angry protesters aggressively yelling at the police dressed in full riot gear. The group of nearly a dozen officers are seen backing up into a garage.
The door of the garage slowly closes as the protesters continue to confront the police, with one demonstrator even trying to push open the garage door.
Rittenhouse’s lawyers described him as a scared teenager who opened fire to save his life. They put Rittenhouse on the stand to try and emphasize that point.
‘I didn’t intend to kill them,’ Rittenhouse testified. ‘I intended to stop the people who were attacking me.’
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