Speaker 1: So I've got an interesting one for you today. Some
Speaker 1: on the left have called him a white supremacist, some
Speaker 1: on the right have called him a hero, but he's neither.
Speaker 1: Kyle Rittenhouse was just seventeen years old when he went
Speaker 1: to Kenosha, Wisconsin, on August twenty fifth, twenty twenty. His
Speaker 1: goal was to protect local businesses, to potentially provide aid
Speaker 1: to those around him, and instead he ended up in
Speaker 1: a scenario where he was fighting for his life, where
Speaker 1: he had to exercise his right to self defense. He
Speaker 1: is innocent in the eyes of the law. Take yourself
Speaker 1: back to when you were seventeen, how many stupid situations
Speaker 1: did you get yourself in. Look, I don't think Kyle
Speaker 1: Rittenhouse should have gone out that day, but he was
Speaker 1: also seventeen years old. I think he went out truly
Speaker 1: with the intention to protect his community. I also believe
Speaker 1: in the right to self defense, and I believe that's
Speaker 1: what he was doing, and so does the law. What
Speaker 1: does Kyle Rittenhouse have to say about all of this?
Speaker 1: We're going to hear from him in his own words
Speaker 1: talking about his book Acquitted, where he tells his life
Speaker 1: story and he explains exactly what happened both August twenty fifth,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty, and in the days after, Stay tuned for
Speaker 1: Kyle Rittenhouse. Well, Kyle, it's nice to meet you. I
Speaker 1: appreciate you making the time. I imagine this is a
Speaker 1: busy time.
Speaker 2: For you, absolutely, so thank you for having me on.
Speaker 1: You know, obviously you wrote this book to give people
Speaker 1: better insight into who you are, because you know you've
Speaker 1: been misrepresented in the media. But who was Kyle Rittenhouse
Speaker 1: before August twenty fifth, twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: Well, I talk about that quite a bit a bit
Speaker 2: in my book, Lisa. I talk about growing up with
Speaker 2: a drug addict dad, growing up homeless as a child,
Speaker 2: and living on government subsidized housing while I had a
Speaker 2: mom who was working eighty hours a week so she
Speaker 2: could put food on the table. That's who I was.
Speaker 2: I was a kid who was put in to unpredictable
Speaker 2: circumstances and put in challenging times and trials that we
Speaker 2: that most Americans face every day. And I wrote wrote
Speaker 2: about that in my book. I also wrote about how
Speaker 2: I was a police explorer and a fire cadet, and
Speaker 2: how I had an urge to help people. And that's
Speaker 2: essentially what brought me down to the riots in August
Speaker 2: twenty fifth.
Speaker 1: Who are you now? How would you describe yourself now?
Speaker 2: I would describe myself today as a difficult question. I've
Speaker 2: never been asked that one, But if I had to
Speaker 2: describe myself, I would say I try to live as
Speaker 2: normal of a life as possible, whatever normal means. I
Speaker 2: work in nine to five. I've been doing a lot
Speaker 2: of interviews lately to talk about my book and to
Speaker 2: help share my story. But that's who I am. I'm
Speaker 2: a person who wakes up in the morning and I
Speaker 2: go to work, just like everybody else.
Speaker 1: What's it been like to relive all of this in
Speaker 1: writing the book.
Speaker 2: It's been an interesting journey. It's been It's been difficult
Speaker 2: at times because we've had to go back and watch
Speaker 2: all all the videos and and relive everything that happened,
Speaker 2: and watched the trial and talk about in detail my
Speaker 2: entire life.
Speaker 1: What have you learned about the media and all of this.
Speaker 2: Well, I learned that the media will say whatever they
Speaker 2: want to push their own narrative, and they are watching
Speaker 2: you like a hawk. Twenty four seven. Just the other day,
Speaker 2: I accidentally liked to post on Twitter from a friend
Speaker 2: of mine, and Newsweek wrote a hip piece article on
Speaker 2: it just because I accidentally like something, And I think
Speaker 2: that's absolutely ridiculous that they do that.
Speaker 1: In hindsight, Why do you think you went that night
Speaker 1: in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Speaker 2: Well, I went to Kenosha, Wisconsin to help people and
Speaker 2: provide medical aid and put out fires because I was
Speaker 2: asked to be there. With hindsight being twenty twenty as
Speaker 2: it always is, if I would have known, I would
Speaker 2: have been attacked and put on trial and forced to
Speaker 2: defend myself. I wouldn't have gone. It wasn't worth it. It
Speaker 2: doesn't change the thing fact that I defended myself, but
Speaker 2: it wasn't worth it.
Speaker 1: I think one thing that doesn't get discussed as much is,
Speaker 1: you know, the politicians in Wisconsin failed. I mean, it
Speaker 1: should have never gotten that bad that you know, the
Speaker 1: community should have been protected from the beginning. Well, why
Speaker 1: do you think that never gets focused on of how
Speaker 1: these elected officials failed the community?
Speaker 2: Well, a lot of elected officials like to lie to
Speaker 2: their constituents and say what they want to hear and
Speaker 2: then deliver on another thing, and then they're bought out
Speaker 2: by lobbyists and paid for and essentially just do a
Speaker 2: lot of this for money, when in reality it shouldn't
Speaker 2: be done for money. It should be done for the
Speaker 2: people and for their best interests, not for big companies
Speaker 2: and lobbyists.
Speaker 1: I guess you know, what have you learned about politicians
Speaker 1: through all this?
Speaker 2: I learned that very few of them can be trusted,
Speaker 2: and they all have their own motive and their own
Speaker 2: their own agenda to push. And that's what I've learned.
Speaker 2: And I learned you can't trust any of them, and
Speaker 2: you really need to do your research on them because
Speaker 2: a lot of times they'll just say what you want
Speaker 2: to hear.
Speaker 1: Take us through in your own words, because you know,
Speaker 1: obviously the media has painted a picture. You know, Take
Speaker 1: us through in your own words. What happened on August
Speaker 1: twenty fifth, twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: Well, on August twenty fifth of twenty twenty, I was
Speaker 2: there in Kenosha helping people, providing first aid, and I
Speaker 2: was going to put out a fire at a CarMax
Speaker 2: that we were protecting to put out fires, and I
Speaker 2: was ambushed by several people and forced to defend myself
Speaker 2: against Joseph Roe's mom, then chased down and had to
Speaker 2: defend myself a second time against three other attackers, one
Speaker 2: being jump kick Man, the other being Anthony Huber, who
Speaker 2: hit me in the back of the head with the
Speaker 2: skateboard while I was on the ground, and the third
Speaker 2: be engaged grocers who put a gun in my face
Speaker 2: while I was also on the ground.
Speaker 1: What do you think would have happened if you hadn't
Speaker 1: have defended yourself.
Speaker 2: Oh, I'd be dead. I would one hundred percent be
Speaker 2: dead if I didn't defend myself.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think a lot of times in these situations,
Speaker 1: you know, it's hard for anyone to know what it's
Speaker 1: like to have to make a split sef decision. I
Speaker 1: mean we see this with police officers very often who
Speaker 1: get condemned for using lethal force. It's almost impossible for
Speaker 1: people to put themselves in that situation of the kind
Speaker 1: of decisions you have to make in you know, a
Speaker 1: split second. I mean, you didn't really have time to
Speaker 1: think about you know what this all would lead to.
Speaker 1: I mean, it was a split second decision you had
Speaker 1: to make.
Speaker 2: Absolutely everything happened within a total of like three minutes
Speaker 2: from the first shooting to when I turned my when
Speaker 2: I walked to the police line. People don't realize how
Speaker 2: fast that happened. And of course in a courtroom you
Speaker 2: could slow everything down and go frame by frame and
Speaker 2: go through all the details, and it seems like this
Speaker 2: was this long event, when in reality, it was this
Speaker 2: very short, quick event of where I had to defend myself.
Speaker 1: You know, obviously you said you regretted going that night.
Speaker 1: I think most people would say, you know, why was
Speaker 1: he there as a seventeen year old? But you know
Speaker 1: you were seventeen. Not everyone makes the best decisions when
Speaker 1: you're seventeen years old. I can't imagine the fear that
Speaker 1: you were going through when you know, you realize that, okay,
Speaker 1: I'm under attack, I could die, you know, take us
Speaker 1: through that absolutely.
Speaker 2: So I was terrified. I knew if I didn't defend myself,
Speaker 2: I wouldn't be going home and I would be dead.
Speaker 2: And I did what I had to do to protect myself.
Speaker 2: I was scared and terrified for my life.
Speaker 1: What's it like when you were awaiting trial, you know,
Speaker 1: not not knowing how this jury would come down on
Speaker 1: these charges against you. I mean, I imagine you know,
Speaker 1: that's just got to be so anxious and scary to
Speaker 1: be awaiting your fate in the hands of a jury,
Speaker 1: and you have no idea which way they could go,
Speaker 1: particularly in this environment, in this world.
Speaker 2: Well, I just had to trust in God. I had
Speaker 2: to trust in whatever happened was going to happen. No
Speaker 2: matter what. God plan is the right plan, and he
Speaker 2: would keep me safe and protected.
Speaker 1: Did you Was there any part of you when the
Speaker 1: jury came down that you thought that it could go
Speaker 1: in the other direction.
Speaker 2: I didn't actually think about that much. I was just
Speaker 2: I was so nervous for the verdict because it could
Speaker 2: have gone any direction. The jury could have voted any
Speaker 2: single way. They could have decided I was guilty or
Speaker 2: not guilty, and thank god they made the right verdict
Speaker 2: to declare me not guilty. But I didn't focus on
Speaker 2: that much because they would have just ate me up
Speaker 2: too much.
Speaker 1: You also had some civil lawsuits filed against you as well.
Speaker 1: Are you still fighting those?
Speaker 2: Yes? I am. I'm fighting three civil lawsuits at the moment.
Speaker 1: And you've also threatened to tosue the media. What's the
Speaker 1: status of that. On these defamation lawsuits.
Speaker 2: We looked into it. Defamation is near impossible to prove,
Speaker 2: and they consider me a public figure, so I have
Speaker 2: a higher bar to prove, and essentially the media can
Speaker 2: say whatever they want about me.
Speaker 1: You know, I think people you know forget well. Campaigning
Speaker 1: for president, you know, Joe Biden used images of you
Speaker 1: in a campaign video. That must have been pretty alarming
Speaker 1: for you to have seen.
Speaker 2: Oh that ticked me off. Like to see the former
Speaker 2: vice president and now current president using my face in
Speaker 2: his campaign video to gain voters and making something that
Speaker 2: was non political political, it really ticks me off.
Speaker 1: Take a quick commercial break more with Kyle Rittenhouse. On
Speaker 1: the other side, you had supported President Trump and attended
Speaker 1: a rally. How much of that do you think came
Speaker 1: into play in some of the public slander that you've experienced.
Speaker 2: I wasn't very political before everything happened. A lot of
Speaker 2: people will say I was, but I didn't really know
Speaker 2: much about politics. President Trump came and supported me from
Speaker 2: the beginning, and that's why I like President Trump. But
Speaker 2: it didn't have a really play into why I went
Speaker 2: down there. But I think they, the media and other
Speaker 2: politicians saw it as this kid is a kid who
Speaker 2: went to a Trump rally. He's this maga person. We're
Speaker 2: going to rail against him. Even though I was seventeen,
Speaker 2: because if I was on the other side, they would
Speaker 2: have probably came to my defense.
Speaker 1: I think what's particularly frustrating as well is, you know,
Speaker 1: those riots were following the death of Jacob Blake, a
Speaker 1: man who after you know, through investigation, you know, he
Speaker 1: pulled a knife on police officers, she showed up at
Speaker 1: a woman's house to revictimize her. You know, that's who
Speaker 1: these people came out to defend and to riot for.
Speaker 1: And we also have seen people like Kamala Harris praised
Speaker 1: Jacob Blake as well. You know, the Governor Tony Ivers,
Speaker 1: you know, governor of Wisconsin, you know, came out and
Speaker 1: supported him as well. So I mean talk about that.
Speaker 2: I didn't really pay attention to the Jacob Blake case much.
Speaker 2: I know what happened a little bit, but I was
Speaker 2: focus on my own things going on at the time,
Speaker 2: and you'll notice I didn't. I do notice a pattern
Speaker 2: with these left leaning politicians. They come to support these
Speaker 2: violent criminals who do bad things, and sometimes bad things
Speaker 2: do happen to them, and we do need to support
Speaker 2: them because that's what we need to do. But when
Speaker 2: they do the bad thing, we don't need to support
Speaker 2: them and encourage them for doing bad things.
Speaker 1: Tony Evers. I mean, you know, we've seen cases of
Speaker 1: self defense in the country. You know Daniel Penny, you know,
Speaker 1: currently facing trial for what happened in New York City.
Speaker 1: Why do you think there's such an animus against the
Speaker 1: right to self defense?
Speaker 2: Because I think the government wants complete control and they
Speaker 2: want to take that right from us, and we can't
Speaker 2: let them. We have to vote them out and put
Speaker 2: politicians in place that will support the right to self defense,
Speaker 2: who will support the Second Amendment, and who won't throw
Speaker 2: you in prison for defending yourself.
Speaker 1: Why do you think these kinds of riots that we
Speaker 1: saw in the summer of twenty twenty, and you know
Speaker 1: we're seeing some of it now, you know, these pro
Speaker 1: Palestinian riots. Why do politicians allow for some of these
Speaker 1: violent riots to take place.
Speaker 2: I think it puts fear into other voters who aren't outrioting.
Speaker 2: I think other everyday people see, oh, while the world
Speaker 2: is burning down, if we don't vote for this left
Speaker 2: leaning politician, we're just going to have more riots than
Speaker 2: the riots aren't going to stop. Because if you notice
Speaker 2: a pattern, they always flow up during an election cycle.
Speaker 1: Why do you think the Second Amendment is so despised
Speaker 1: by so many Americans?
Speaker 2: That's a good question. I have no idea. The Second
Speaker 2: Amendment was written by our founding fathers and it was
Speaker 2: very intentional what they wrote, and I think it should
Speaker 2: stay that way. I think our founding fathers they wrote
Speaker 2: our Constitution very intentionally, and our politicians' jobs are to
Speaker 2: protect the Concertstitution and make sure that the Constitution has
Speaker 2: followed through with. But we have politicians like Gavin Governor
Speaker 2: Gavin Newsom, Newsom who's trying to introduce a twenty eighth
Speaker 2: Amendment on firearms and that essentially dissolves the Second Amendment
Speaker 2: and that can't be stood for that's unconstitutional.
Speaker 1: If you had to sum up everything that's happened to you,
Speaker 1: what have you learned from all of this?
Speaker 2: Learn who you can trust, learn who you let into
Speaker 2: your circle, and to always think before you do something.
Speaker 1: What's been the response from, you know, family and having
Speaker 1: to battle through this.
Speaker 2: My family has been very supportive during the trials and stuff.
Speaker 1: You know, and I know a lot's been made of
Speaker 1: Oh well, you know, you're trying to profit off of this,
Speaker 1: you know, with the book. But what have been the
Speaker 1: costs in having to defend yourself in court and in
Speaker 1: with these civil cases as well, that the financial costs.
Speaker 2: Millions of dollars have been paid to lawyers to keep
Speaker 2: me out of jail and to help fight these civil lawsuits,
Speaker 2: and I still have legal debt.
Speaker 1: What have you learned about the legal process through all
Speaker 1: of this?
Speaker 2: That lawyers are expensive. Lawyers are very, very expensive, and
Speaker 2: that the legal system will try to mess with you
Speaker 2: every way possible to throw you in prison, and they'll
Speaker 2: try to make it to where you can't defend yourself,
Speaker 2: and then if you do win, they'll draw you in
Speaker 2: civil lawsuits and try to bankrupt you and take every
Speaker 2: financial asset you have.
Speaker 1: Do you think you know when people say justice is blind,
Speaker 1: is it?
Speaker 2: It can be? It can be blind in sometimes in
Speaker 2: some ways I think a lot of people. I think
Speaker 2: our court system works in an extent. It worked for
Speaker 2: me in the criminal case. Our justice system worked. I
Speaker 2: shouldn't have been prosecuted, but the jury got it right.
Speaker 2: They looked at the facts and they did not let
Speaker 2: public opinion or bias sway them to voting guilty. They
Speaker 2: voted the correct verdict, not guilty. But there's other cases
Speaker 2: such as Daniel Perry to where the jury voted guilty
Speaker 2: when there was an overwhelming amount of self defense claims
Speaker 2: in his trial, and in my opinion, I believe he
Speaker 2: acted in self defense.
Speaker 1: If your case was tried in a different state, a
Speaker 1: different part of the country, what do you think the
Speaker 1: outcome would have been.
Speaker 2: That's a good question. I thought about that a lot
Speaker 2: until the Daniel Perry situation, because I thought, Hey, if
Speaker 2: this happened in Texas, I would never have been tried.
Speaker 2: But Daniel Perry, who had a similar situation, he was
Speaker 2: tried and he was found guilty. So it was a
Speaker 2: very difficult thing to see. But it made me think like, wow,
Speaker 2: maybe if this did happen in a more conservative state,
Speaker 2: I would have still been put on trial, because it
Speaker 2: all depends on the DA of that county.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we've seen people like you know, George Soros
Speaker 1: trying to elect some of these progressive das. What do
Speaker 1: you think that means for the future of the country.
Speaker 1: You know, how concerned are you about the you know,
Speaker 1: justice system as we move forward as a country with
Speaker 1: some of these progressive das.
Speaker 2: Well, it's very scary. It's a very scary thing to
Speaker 2: say that George Soros wants to have these left leaning
Speaker 2: and bad district attorneys elected, because then it means that
Speaker 2: he practically has full control of the judicial system. And
Speaker 2: it's scary to see. It's scary to see what will
Speaker 2: happen if that is the case, and how the DA's
Speaker 2: that are elected by him will twist the law and
Speaker 2: throw innocent people in prison.
Speaker 1: Quick break stay with us some on the rate, Have
Speaker 1: you know, sort of made you a full hero to
Speaker 1: some degree? Why do you think that is?
Speaker 2: I don't know. I'm not a hero at all. I'm
Speaker 2: not a hero. I'm not a villain.
Speaker 1: I'm just a person, you know, and talking do it
Speaker 1: and seeing you know, your interviews and reading up about you.
Speaker 1: There does not seem to be any case to be
Speaker 1: made that you went there that night looking to harm
Speaker 1: people or looking to you know, kill people, or anything
Speaker 1: like that. What's the toll on a human being to
Speaker 1: have to take the life of another person.
Speaker 2: Well, I deal with emotional trauma every single day. I
Speaker 2: deal with PTSD and nightmares and anxiety when I go
Speaker 2: out into public. It's a huge toll that a lot
Speaker 2: of people don't realize.
Speaker 1: Are you seeking therapy and trying to work through that.
Speaker 2: There are some people I talk to and there are
Speaker 2: ways that I do work through this. I have a
Speaker 2: service dog who has been a great help, and he
Speaker 2: comes with me everywhere. You probably hear him in the background.
Speaker 2: He's moving around, ready to go outside and play. Some ball.
Speaker 1: Dogs are sent from God. I think we don't. We
Speaker 1: don't deserve them. There I have a dog as well.
Speaker 1: There are grazing creature, the amazing creatures. What do you
Speaker 1: want for the rest of your life? Obviously your life's
Speaker 1: been turned upside down. Obviously this is not the life
Speaker 1: you thought you would have. What do you want to
Speaker 1: do with your life?
Speaker 2: I just want to live free from harassment. I just
Speaker 2: want to live my life and live free from people
Speaker 2: harassing me and coming up to me and like, just
Speaker 2: move on. That was the goal with the Buck, is
Speaker 2: to get my story out there once and for all,
Speaker 2: and just to be able to move on after these
Speaker 2: civil lawsuits.
Speaker 1: I think most people, you know, look, I work in
Speaker 1: the public eye, and I certainly have not experienced the
Speaker 1: kind of harassment that you've experienced. But I don't think
Speaker 1: most people understand kind of what that is like, you know,
Speaker 1: take us through what you've had to experience in terms
Speaker 1: of that harassment, in terms of that vitriol being aimed
Speaker 1: in your direction.
Speaker 2: I've experienced good and bad harassment. I've experienced death threats
Speaker 2: a countless number almost every single day. I experienced people
Speaker 2: coming up to me when I have my mouth filled
Speaker 2: with food I'm at a restaurant asking to take pictures.
Speaker 2: I was out with the friend yesterday and we were
Speaker 2: out at the beach and playing with my dog in
Speaker 2: the water, and I've had people come up to me there.
Speaker 2: It's just very difficult to go outside and to not
Speaker 2: be recognized.
Speaker 1: You've done a lot of interviews so far on the book,
Speaker 1: and there's been a lot written about it. Is there
Speaker 1: anything people are missing that you want to get out
Speaker 1: there that you wish people would report on from the
Speaker 1: book and from your life.
Speaker 2: Yeah. The left wing media keeps reporting on the book
Speaker 2: in a way that is terrible, and they haven't even
Speaker 2: read the book based on reading their articles, so I
Speaker 2: encourage them to read the book because they got a
Speaker 2: lot wrong. Especially MSNBC. Their article they wrote a couple
Speaker 2: of days ago is absolutely ridiculous, saying I'm doing this
Speaker 2: for political power, if you just picked up the book
Speaker 2: and read it, you would know that this isn't about
Speaker 2: political power.
Speaker 1: Well, I did most accidentally call MSCMS thirteen a few
Speaker 1: times on Fox my accident, but maybe but maybe somewhat accurate. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: because you faced it an onslaught of character assassination by
Speaker 1: so many people. What's it like to be labeled something
Speaker 1: you know you're not.
Speaker 2: It's aggravating. I see it every single day. I have
Speaker 2: constant media attacks, and it's just disgusting that the media
Speaker 2: can say some stuff, say the stuff about me and
Speaker 2: just get away with it. Like they just constantly double
Speaker 2: down and say these terrible, terrible false lies about me,
Speaker 2: and I think they know their lies, and then they
Speaker 2: label it as opinion. But it still hurts my character
Speaker 2: and still makes people want to hurt me or attack
Speaker 2: me and puts my safety at risk.
Speaker 1: Is there anything else you'd like to leave us with
Speaker 1: before we go.
Speaker 2: Well, Lisa, I just want to say thank you for
Speaker 2: having me on to discuss my new book. If anybody's
Speaker 2: interested in ordering a copy, you can go to rittenhousebook
Speaker 2: dot com and pre order a copy. You can also
Speaker 2: pre order a signed version where I'll be hand signing
Speaker 2: every single copy that shipped out that's pre ordered for sign.
Speaker 1: Kyle Rittenhouse, appreciate you taking the time to talk about
Speaker 1: your new book Acquitted.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Lisa.
Speaker 1: It was Kyle Rittenhouse talking about his new book Acquitted
Speaker 1: and talking about what he went through the young age
Speaker 1: of seventeen. He was seventeen. Then. Want to thank you
Speaker 1: at home for listening every Monday and Thursday, but you
Speaker 1: can listen throughout the week. I want to thank my producer,
Speaker 1: John Cassio for putting the show together. Until next time.