Controversial former murder defendant Kyle Rittenhouse is facing online backlash after promoting his new book, “Acquitted,” and recommending it as a Christmas gift for the special price of $59.99 for an autographed copy.
The book recounts his experience of being thrust into the spotlight, navigating a court battle after fatally shooting two men, Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, when he was 17 years old during Black Lives Matter protests in August 2020 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The protests were sparked by the shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was left paralyzed from the waist down after being shot by a white police officer.
Armed with a semi-automatic AR-15-style assault rifle, Rittenhouse also wounded now-30-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz, who was the only one of Rittenhouse’s three victims armed that night.
Kyle Rittenhouse appears on Fox News on March 1, 2023. (Photo: Screenshot Fox News / Youtube)
In his trial related to the shootings, Rittenhouse asserted that he acted in self-defense with the weapon. His legal team successfully defended him against charges of first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, and two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety. He was acquitted in November 2021.
The book, which went on sale on Nov. 19, 2023, almost three years after his actual acquittal, has had lackluster sales on Amazon in Kindle form. The digital read, 241 pages long, is currently ranked #73,561 on the platform’s best-seller list.
Rittenhouse’s team adopted a new strategy for the holiday season, encouraging potential readers to visit his website to purchase hard copies of the book at $22.99 and signed copies at $59.99.
He tweeted, “Still looking for Christmas gifts? Look no further; you can order my book ACQUITTED now…”
The comments in response were overwhelmingly sarcastic, with swarms of people calling him a murderer and a racist.
“Hard pass, Murder Boy,” one person wrote, while others called him “KKKyle Rittenhouse” and said they were boycotting a murder book, labeling it “blood money.”
One comment read, “Grifter still peddling this garbage,” while a different comment asked if he was going to mention his alleged fight with a young girl in his community: “Do you mention in the book where you prefer hand-to-hand combat with girls?”
A couple of comments discussed how they would use it as “toilet paper” or “paper to start my fireplace.”
The backlash comes days after Rittenhouse appeared on former Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s new show, “The Tucker Carlson Encounter,” and talked about how he felt the National Rifle Association did not have his back during his murder trial for killing two Black Lives Matter protesters. He told the host that the organization, so tightly associated with his case early on, never assisted with his criminal trial or the subsequent civil lawsuits filed against him.
“I didn’t receive any help from the NRA,” said Rittenhouse. “I know people who work with the NRA, and they don’t want to touch my case. They don’t want to help with the civil lawsuits. They didn’t want to help with the criminal lawsuits.”
Carlson asked him how he thought the NRA could have helped him during the trial. He replied, “I have no idea. One of the organizations that did step up and help me is the National Association for Gun Rights.”
Perhaps Rittenhouse was looking for financial help, as the young man has been very public about needing money, including setting up a new fund through GiveSendGo to receive donations to help him along with his multiple lawsuits in February 2023.
So far, he has received $254,968 of the goal of $500,000.