Kyle Rittenhouse, The Acquitted Killer Who Recently Released His Memoir, Is Now Broke According to His Lawyer
Kyle Rittenhouse — the 17-year-old who fatally shot two men with an AR-15-style rifle at a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August 2020 — has just released a memoir that he describes as a “story of survival, resilience, and justice.”
The book, called Acquitted, is the most recent plot point of his rise to MAGA stardom ever since he was acquitted of the crimes — first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, and two charges of first-degree recklessly endangering safety — that resulted in the deaths of 36-year-old Joseph Rosenbaum and 26-year-old Anthony Huber, and also left 26-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz injured.
Since his acquittal, he’s appeared in MAGA podcasts and has spoken at far-right conferences, and has even sat down with Tucker Carlson and visited Donald Trump himself in Mar-a-Lago.
In March, Rittenhouse was able to raise more than $200,000 in donations when supporters rushed to help him cover new legal bills — Rosenbaum’s family is suing him in civil court for what could be millions of dollars in damages.
The memoir and the upcoming promotional tour easily make up a new fundraising scheme. Mark Richards, the lawyer who helped get him acquitted, is making Rittenhouse, now 20 years old, appear almost like he’s struggling. He said in an interview with Court TV that Rittenhouse “is working, he is trying to support himself. Everybody thinks that Kyle got so much money from this. Whatever money he did get is gone.”
“He’s living — I don’t want to say paycheck to paycheck — but he’s living to support himself. Obviously, as his lawyer and somebody who I want to do well, I hope he does re-engage in his studies. But right now he is working full-time, he is living a law-abiding life and he is doing something that he enjoys,” Richards continued, almost as if describing someone who meant to live better than the average 20-year-old American.
But more than a fundraiser — or a way for him to tell his truth — Max Burns, a Democratic strategist thinks this decision to “re-enter the national conversation,” which includes the creation of the Rittenhouse Foundation last summer, has more to do with “strengthening his position as a far-right political player.”
The book, according to Burns, is “more like the opening charge of a well-funded public relations campaign designed to build Rittenhouse’s personal brand into a political powerhouse.” Rittenhouse is already being used as branding by the far-right to raise money, through the Texas-based Rittenhouse Foundation, which Burns says is backed by Texas’ most influential far-right conservatives.
“Ever since the shooting, Kyle Rittenhouse has been on a quest to stay as relevant as he can, and there’s no doubt he appeals to a big part of the Republican base,” Burns quotes former Rep. Joe Walsh, an Illinois Republican. “From Day One he’s been totally used by people on the right to raise money and get constituencies fired up. He’s making money putting his face out there for MAGA causes.”
It’s not difficult to see Rittenhouse as the new face of the far-right. Burns suggests that based on his current trajectory, the far-right will be seeing a lot more of that face. By next year, he’ll be old enough to qualify for state-level politics. In five years (or two political cycles), he’ll be old enough to run for a seat in the House of Representatives.
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