Kyle Rittenhouse Announces Fund to Hold Media Accountable for ‘Lies’

Kyle Rittenhouse Announces Fund to Hold Media Accountable for ‘Lies’
Kyle Rittenhouse looks on after a break during his trial in Kenosha, Wis., on Nov. 9, 2021. (Mark Hertzberg/Pool/Getty Images)
Isabel van Brugen
2/22/2022
Updated:
2/22/2022

Kyle Rittenhouse on Monday said he is launching a project that seeks to hold news organizations accountable for their “lies.”

Rittenhouse, 19, who was acquitted in November 2021 of charges related to the shooting of three people during a night of riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020, shared details of his new initiative during an appearance on Fox News’ “Tucker Carlson Tonight.”

“Me and my team have decided to launch the Media Accountability Project as a tool to help fundraise and hold the media accountable for the lies they said and deal with them in court,” the teenager said.

“I don’t want to see anybody else have to deal with what I went through. So I want to hold them accountable for what they did to me, because I don’t want to see anybody have to go through what I went through,” Rittenhouse said.

Rittenhouse said that the fund will help raise money for potential lawsuits, and that his team is currently weighing up suing “quite a few” politicians, athletes, and celebrities, including American actor and host of ABC News’ “The View,” Whoopi Goldberg.

“She called me a ‘murderer’ after I was acquitted by a jury of my peers. She went on to still say that,” Rittenhouse said.

Rittenhouse said The Young Turks founder Cenk Uygur “continues to call me a ‘murderer,’” after his acquittal.

“We’re going to hold everybody who lied about me accountable, such as everybody who lied called me a white supremacist,” Rittenhouse said. “They’re all going to be held accountable. And we’re going to handle them in a courtroom.”

The Epoch Times has contacted The Young Turks for comment.

Rittenhouse was 17 when he shot three men, two fatally, with an AR-15 in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on Aug. 25, 2020. He was found not guilty on all charges on Nov. 19, 2021.

During the 2020 incident, Rittenhouse shot and killed Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum before wounding Gaige Grosskreutz in the midst of riots and arson attacks following the officer-involved shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha. It came after months of left-wing riots and unrest that were sparked by the killing of George Floyd in May 2020.

The demonstrations turned chaotic at times, with people burning buildings. Rittenhouse and his friend, Dominick Black, joined a group to protect a used car lot on the night of Aug. 25, 2020. Black had purchased the rifle for Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time.

The rifle and magazine that were used on that night were ordered destroyed by Wisconsin Judge Bruce Schroeder last month.

Schroeder, the same judge who presided over Rittenhouse’s criminal trial in November 2021, said defense attorneys and prosecutors will be provided footage of the destruction of the AR-15-style rifle and magazine. Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger said the gun will likely be destroyed in April 2022.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.