Lawyers representing a teenage boy charged with homicide are preparing a defamation lawsuit against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign.
The lawyers say they'll file the suit unless the campaign retracts a statement in which he linked Kyle Rittenhouse to white supremacy and violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Biden’s Twitter account shared a video that included a picture of Rittenhouse with a gun in Kenosha and the nominee said President Donald Trump “refused to disavow white supremacists” during the presidential debate on Sept. 29.
The video included a question by moderator Chris Wallace, who said white supremacists and militias have “added violence” to a number of cities this year.
Biden “defamed Kyle Rittenhouse by suggesting on this video that he is a White Supremacist. The #Left just will not stop. I am working on the retraction demand now for Mr. Biden and his campaign,” attorney Todd McMurtry wrote on social media on Wednesday.
After several hours, another lawyer, Lin Wood, said he, McMurtry, and attorney Ron Coleman were pursuing a libel case against Biden and his campaign.
Marina Medvin, who is also representing Rittenhouse, said in a statement that “there is absolutely no evidence, not even a pinch, of this defamatory accusation that my client Kyle Rittenhouse is a ‘white supremacist.’”
People claiming so “can retract and apologize, or they can deal with Lin Wood in court,” she added.
Biden’s campaign didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Rittenhouse shot three people in Kenosha on Aug. 25, according to court documents. He was charged with first-degree homicide and other charges last month. His lawyers say he was acting in self-defense.
