A Republican student group at Arizona State University started a fundraiser for the teenager accused of killing two people during the protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin, prompting backlash from a different GOP group on campus.
College Republicans United started a fundraiser on behalf of Kyle Rittenhouse, the 17-year-old from Illinois who was initially arrested on a homicide charge and later was dealt several other charges in Wisconsin that could land him in prison for life. The group argued that Rittenhouse did “not deserve to have his entire life destroyed because of the actions of violent anarchists during a lawless riot.”
Half of all funds collected this semester for Republicans United will be donated to 17 year old Kyle Rittenhouse legal defense fund. He does not deserve to have his entire life destroyed because of the actions of violent anarchists during a lawless riothttps://t.co/vD7obvkcaI pic.twitter.com/2ZQN2OORmj
— College Republicans United (@ASU_CRU) August 27, 2020
The fundraiser prompted scorn, including from ASU College Republicans, a separate GOP group at ASU. The ASU College Republicans released a statement condemning the fundraiser and noting that the two groups are not affiliated.
“We condemn and call for a formal administrative investigation into the conduct and operation of the organization dubbed ‘College Republicans United’ at ASU. We do not associate with nor condone their recent actions involving contributing to the legal defense fund of a man who shot and killed several Americans in Wisconsin,” the group stated.
? https://t.co/Hp5gSEUZXX pic.twitter.com/IpQ5Rq8WRV
— ASU College Republicans (@ASUCollegeGOP) August 30, 2020
The ASU College Republicans noted that they are the oldest Republican group on campus and accused the College Republicans United of having a history of racism and anti-Semitism.
The shooting, which took place Tuesday night, resulted in the deaths of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber. A third person, Gaige Grosskreutz, was injured and will need reconstructive arm surgery.
Rittenhouse’s lawyers say their client was acting in self-defense. “He has suddenly found himself at the center of a national firestorm and charged with murder after defending himself from a relentless, vicious and potentially deadly mob attack in Kenosha,” they said in a statement.
Some prominent Republicans have similarly sided with Rittenhouse, including Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar, who called Rittenhouse’s actions “100% justified self-defense.”
