Kyle Rittenhouse Defends Abruptly Leaving Turning Point USA Event After BLM Protesters Confront Him During Q&A

Protestors confronted Kyle Rittenhouse at the Wednesday, March 20, Turning Point USA event he was speaking at — however, the controversial figure claimed the protesters weren't why he abruptly stormed out of the building.

Rittenhouse, who gained notoriety in 2020 after fatally shooting two protesters in Kenosha, WI, was confronted by protestors during a Q&A at the University of Memphis event organized by Turning Point USA, a pro-Trump organization.

The situation escalated when attendees confronted him with questions about Turning Point USA's CEO, Charlie Kirk, and his controversial remarks.

The protestors specifically highlighted Kirk's comments, including some that were considered racist, leading to a heated exchange that prompted Rittenhouse to leave the stage abruptly.

A protester asked, "He says we shouldn’t celebrate Juneteenth. We shouldn’t celebrate Martin Luther King Day. We should be working those days. He called [Supreme Court Justice] Ketanji Brown Jackson an affirmative action hire. He’s talked nonsense about George Floyd, and he said he’d be scared if a Black pilot was on a plane. Does that not seem racist?"

Rittenhouse attempted to shrug off the comment, claiming, "I don't know anything about that."

The crowd erupted in boos and ridicule directed toward the 21-year-old speaker.

The same protester asked again, "After all the things I just told you, would you consider that hate speech?"

Rittenhouse bluntly stated, "I'm not going to comment on that," which lead to even more yelling from the crowd.

Almost as soon as the crowd erupted in anger again, Rittenhouse left the stage with his service dog.

The video was shared on social media in a post by one of the protest group's supporters, which read, "Proud to have been associated with the group protesting Kyle Rittenhouse at the University of Memphis. A huge success in getting him to walk out in the middle of our questioning."

The young speaker took to X, formerly known as Twitter, where he claimed he didn't get booed off stage and just had "a hard cut-off time."

"What I find hilarious is that everyone is saying I was ‘chased’ out of Memphis, when in reality, we went to this restaurant called Huey’s, grabbed some food, and nobody seemed to care or notice," he tweeted.

Rittenhouse wasn't the only target the protestors confronted, as the the entire TPUSA contingency present at the event ended up having to be escorted off campus by police. They were allegedly bombarded by protestors reportedly representing Black Lives Matter.

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Despite the right embracing Kirk and Turning Point USA's attempt to reach out to younger voters, former President Donald Trump reportedly vented recently that Kirk was hurting his chance with Black voters.