Kyle Rittenhouse, a gun rights activist known for walking free after shooting three men, killing two of them, has opened himself to new criticism with a viral social media post.
Rittenhouse, who became infamous after the 2020 shooting, is facing backlash for an oblivious remark toward Native Americans.
The 21-year-old reposted a photo of a group of people who appear to be Native Americans sticking up their middle fingers at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial. The monument, which is carved in the Black Hills region of South Dakota, depicts the faces of U.S. presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.
The caption for the photo, which was originally posted by X user @Taino1491 on Feb. 6, says F–k the USA. It’s all stolen land,” and it has been viewed nearly 84 million times.
On May 19, Rittenhouse shared the photo with the caption “Then Leave,” in response to the Native Americans’ stance and message in the original post. It drew over 20,000 responses, with many criticizing Rittenhouse for missing the mark.
“Umm…Kyle. I know you skipped out on school and all, but you know Native Americans were here first, right? Keyword: ‘Native,’” one X user pointed out. “You first, murderer!” another X user replied.
While the Mount Rushmore National Memorial currently consults with 21 tribal nations, according to its website, tribal groups have called for land to be returned to the country’s indigenous people.
In July 2020, the NDN Collective called for the closure of Mount Rushmore after then-President Donald Trump scheduled a trip for the Fourth of July.
“Mount Rushmore is on stolen Lakota land, and its very existence is a symbol of white supremacy,” Nick Tilsen, NDN Collective president and CEO, said in a statement at the time. “In opposing the ongoing desecration of our sacred land and asking for return of Lakota lands where Mount Rushmore is situated, we’re not saying anything that our parents, grandparents and great grandparents haven’t already said– The Lakota have opposed Mount Rushmore since the very beginning.”
While many users criticized Rittenhouse for his response to the original photo, some X users supported his remarks.
“Kyle I agree…My family being Native American we’ve dealt with the past. We’ve utilized the resources made available to us via America, we’ve prospered, educated ourselves & moved on,” one user replied. “Hopefully, the others will do the same & be prosperous like myself/family.”
According to the Library of Congress, before European settlers arrived in North America, the continent was highly populated by Native Americans. However, the settlement of Europeans in the Americas led to the dislocation and bloodshed for the indigenous people.
While Native Americans argue that their land was stolen by white settlers, some of the X users who responded to Rittenhouse’s post argued that the land was conquered and Europeans were just better at “conquest and exploration.”
“They’re either too stupid or too dense to understand their own history,” another user wrote. “Looks like the white welfare system feeding them better than them trying to catch a rabbit does,” another person replied.
Rittenhouse became a conservative icon after he was acquitted in 2021 of two counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide and two counts of reckless endangerment for opening fire on three men at a Black Lives Matter protest in August 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He has since appeared on multiple conservative talk shows, authored a book about his criminal case and keynoted a college speaking tour about gun rights and his personal experience.
