Kyle Rittenhouse claimed his ex-attorney “set him up” for a photo of him posing with purported members of the Proud Boys and making a hand gesture used by white supremacists.
Rittenhouse blasted his former legal team, John Pierce and Lin Wood, saying he didn’t know the “OK” hand signal is now associated with white supremacy and claiming he “didn’t know what a militia was” until after he was arrested.
The 18-year-old was seen making the gesture in a now-widely circulated picture taken in a Wisconsin bar, but prosecutors were barred from using it in the racially charged homicide case against Rittenhouse, who fatally shot two people and injured a third during a confrontation in Kenosha, Wis., last year.
Rittenhouse, acquitted on all charges last week after claiming self-defense, posed for the picture in January while awaiting trial.
“I didn’t know that the OK hand sign was a symbol for white supremacy just as I didn’t know those people in the bar were Proud Boys,” Rittenhouse told NewsNationNow’s Ashleigh Banfield in an interview that aired Tuesday. “They were set up by my former attorney (Pierce) who was fired because of that, for putting me in situations like that with people I don’t agree with.”
Pierce wasn’t in attendance at the bar, but was planning to use the Proud Boys as security at his law office during a hearing in the case, Rittenhouse said. An email to Rittenhouse’s former legal team from The Post wasn’t immediately acknowledged on Tuesday.
“I definitely don’t think it looked good to hang out with people who are now known to be Proud Boys,” Rittenhouse said when asked if he had second thoughts about the picture. “I definitely wouldn’t do that again.
“I found out they were Proud Boys when I saw the headlines,” he added. “I thought they were just a bunch of, like, construction dudes based on how they looked.”
Rittenhouse blamed the attorneys for the narrative that he had been a member of an unorganized militia when he showed up armed with a semi-automatic rifle in Kenosha during anti-police brutality and anti-racism protests last year. He also continued to blame his former legal team for his being kept in jail for 87 days when he could’ve waived extradition and made bail.
“We fired him because he was like going on with all this QAnon and election fraud stuff and just stuff we don’t agree with,” Rittenhouse stated.
In a separate interview with Fox News’ Tucker Carlson that aired Monday, Rittenhouse bashed President Biden for “defaming” his character by tweeting out a video suggesting Rittenhouse was a white supremacist. During the interview, Rittenhouse also said he was looking into taking legal action against people who may have misrepresented his case.
