A Republican state House candidate in Kentucky has relocated an upcoming campaign event after receiving death threats over the planned appearance of Kyle Rittenhouse, who remains infamous after the fatal shooting of two men during a protest in Wisconsin four years ago.
Rittenhouse, now a major conservative gun activist, was set to attend the fundraiser in Covington, just across the Ohio River from Cincinnati, to announce his support for Republican state House candidate T.J. Roberts, an attorney from Boone County who supports gun rights.
However, Roberts announced on Thursday that his campaign was forced to pull the plug on the venue after someone online “threatened to shoot Kyle at the event,” according to The Cincinnati Enquirer.
A representative for Covington’s Metropolitan Club, the fundraiser’s original venue, stated that the event was planned for late September but was relocated after a speaker who might not align with the club’s unity mission was announced.
The organizers of the $150 minimum-donation fundraiser quickly decided to proceed with the event despite getting the boot from the exclusive club.
Rittenhouse is still listed as a special guest for the event, which was rescheduled for Oct. 9 at Smokin’ This and That BBQ in Florence, a deeply conservative district about 15 miles southwest of Covington — which former President Donald Trump won during the 2020 election with 67 percent of the vote.
Roberts is campaigning to succeed Rep. Steve Rawlings in Kentucky House District 66. He won the Republican primary against former state Rep. Ed Massey and will face Democrat Peggy Houston-Nienaber in the November election.
Roberts said the violent threats included phone calls that targeted him, his supporters, and the host Metropolitan Club, all due to Rittenhouse’s planned appearance.
According to Roberts, the club held an emergency board meeting and decided the event posed too great a safety risk for them to manage.
Despite this, Roberts slammed the decision to relocate the event from the upscale venue, which charges membership dues, enforces a formal dress policy, and offers sweeping views of the Ohio River and Cincinnati skyline.
“The Metropolitan Club, our original location, succumbed to pressure and bent the knee to far-left activists and violent extremists … As a result of their pressure and threats of violence, the venue caved to the mob’s intimidation,” Roberts posted on X.
He commended the new venue for agreeing to host the event, noting that plans were in place for private security at the restaurant and that Roberts would reach out to the police regarding any safety issues.
“The owner of this establishment is a true patriot who believes in free speech and refuses to bend the knee to the WOKE mob,” Roberts said.
Democrat Peggy Houston-Nienaber, who is challenging Roberts, criticized her opponent for undermining his own campaign by associating with polarizing figures like Rittenhouse.
“Boone County is not a place of extremism. The majority of people in Boone County are normal, moderate Republicans that just want to help people and come home and be able to make a living and support their families … so they are not interested in extremism,” she said, according to the Enquirer. “He’s just going for shock value so that he’s in the news.”
Roberts’ X post also drew backlash on X, with many ripping into the GOP candidate for wanting to be associated with Rittenhouse.
“Why in holy hell would anyone even want to be near this murdering little idiot maggot??? He is as dumb as a house plant. If his claim to fame is due to killing where he had no business being, he is really screwed. He’s nothing but a little piece of garbage,” One user wrote. “STFU. You did this to yourself. Disgusting to have him there for such a fundraiser. Shame on you,” another wrote.
Rittenhouse, acquitted in the 2020 shooting deaths of two men and the wounding of a third during a tumultuous night of protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, has since become a lightning rod in politics, celebrated by right-wing gun advocates but reviled by those on the left who continue to feel he evaded justice.
On the night of the shooting, Rittenhouse traveled about an hour from his Illinois apartment to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he picked up his assault weapon from a friend’s house. From there, he drove himself to the scene of the riot and shot three people in the presence of police, who did not arrest him immediately.
The melee was ignited by the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a 29-year-old Black man from Kenosha who survived being shot multiple times in the back and was further intensified by the murder of George Floyd several months earlier by white Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin.
At the time, Rittenhouse was a 17-year-old police youth cadet who claimed he went to Kenosha armed with an AR-style semi-automatic rifle to protect property from the rioters and provide medical aid.
Three years after his 2021 acquittal, Rittenhouse has rebranded himself as a champion of the Second Amendment while remaining aligned with MAGA extremists and gun fanatics.
He made headlines just last month when he announced plans to write in Libertarian Ron Paul on his presidential ballot. However, after facing backlash from some conservatives who labeled him a “traitor,” he quickly reversed his stance and endorsed Trump.
In another recent controversy, Rittenhouse was set to attend a charity music festival later this month, but several metal bands have pulled out after discovering he was a featured guest.
After concert organizers revealed Rittenhouse was one of several pro-Second Amendment influencers invited to the event, Evergreen Terrace, the headlining act, announced, “We will not align with an event promoting murderers such as Kyle Rittenhouse capitalizing off of their pseudo-celebrity.”
Shell Shock II is still set for Oct. 19 in Orlando, despite a cover band being brought in as the headliner as well as the replacement of eight bands — essentially the entire music lineup —due to Rittenhouse’s participation.
“The woke mob tried to cancel Shell Shock because Kyle Rittenhouse will be in attendance,” Tyler Hoover, the event’s founder, said in a statement. “They bullied ALL the bands into quitting the show. We will not discriminate against anyone. Whoever wants to come to Shell Shock is more than welcome. This is not a conservative event. This is an American event.”
Let it Bleed, one of the bands that canceled, issued a statement online, saying that “problematic and potentially alienating entities were being used to market the show, and that is something we simply cannot condone.”
Back in June, Rittenhouse was dragged online after announcing his participation in a clay shoot tournament in Texas, which took place in September.
In a recent interview where far-right conspiracy theorist and radio host Alex Jones called him “an icon of self-defense,” Rittenhouse boasted that he has faced “thousands” of death threats in response to the outcome of his criminal case.
“I’ve had people text me that: ‘I am showing up to your house. I’m gonna kill you,” Rittenhouse said.
“Are you packing right now?” Jones asked.
Rittenhouse unholstered his weapon and handed it to Jones to admire.
“There’s one in the pipe,” Rittenhouse said.
Previously, Rittenhouse was charged in the Kenosha killings after he was shown on camera footage shooting three people during a struggle that broke out in the riot.
In November 2021, he was put on trial on charges of homicide, attempted homicide and reckless endangering, with the jury delivering the shocking verdict of not guilty after nearly four days of deliberations.
Rittenhouse had previously faced life in prison for the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and the wounding of Gaige Grosskreutz, who survived.
During the trial, Rittenhouse took the stand in his own defense, claiming he had fired his AR-15 style rifle in self-defense and that he feared for his life during the chaos. Rittenhouse said the men were trying to kill him. Rosenbaum, he testified, chased him and grabbed his rifle.
Huber and Grosskreutz joined the chase. Huber struck him with a skateboard, and Grosskreutz admitted to pointing a gun at Rittenhouse, though he said that it wasn’t intended.
The verdict came two days after Rittenhouse’s attorneys called on the judge to declare a mistrial, claiming the defense team was given an inferior copy of a potentially critical video from prosecutors.
Previously, Rittenhouse had also faced the charge of possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18, a misdemeanor that Judge Bruce Schroeder dismissed before jury deliberations began.
The Rittenhouse case became a central flashpoint in the debate over guns, racial injustice, vigilantism and the right to self-defense.
Conservative voices around the country, including those on Fox News and then-President Trump, immediately hailed the teen as a hero, saying he exercised his Second Amendment gun rights in the shooting.
Former actor Rick Schroeder helped pay for his bail as he awaited trial, and more than $2 million was raised toward his legal defense.
