An attorney for Kyle Rittenhouse demanded a retraction from Joe Biden after the 17-year-old appeared to be featured in an advertisement about white supremacy.
L. Lin Wood, who is Rittenhouse’s defamation attorney, warned Biden that a video he posted on Wednesday featuring President Trump’s remarks on the far-right group known as the Proud Boys wrongfully accused Rittenhouse of being a white supremacist and a member of a militia. The video appears to include a photograph of Rittenhouse armed with a rifle during riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The teenager faces homicide charges in connection to the fatal shootings of two people during a protest in late August.
“Formal demand for public retraction is being prepared for Biden/Harris Campaign on behalf of Kyle Rittenhouse,” Wood tweeted. “I also hereby demand that @JoeBiden immediately retract his false accusation that Kyle is a white supremacist & militia member responsible for violence in Kenosha.”
Formal demand for public retraction is being prepared for Biden/Harris Campaign on behalf of Kyle Rittenhouse.
I also hereby demand that @JoeBiden immediately retract his false accusation that Kyle is a white supremacist & militia member responsible for violence in Kenosha. pic.twitter.com/GrZyE8nI7Z
— Lin Wood (@LLinWood) September 30, 2020
Wood has been working to clear Rittenhouse’s name from accusations of white supremacy. He recently shared new footage of Rittenhouse’s actions before the riots when he claimed he was there to act as a medic and put out fires. Rittenhouse acknowledged that he was armed but said it was to defend himself while he worked during the riots. Rittenhouse has maintained that he acted in self-defense.
All three of the victims in the shooting, including one person who was injured, were white. The riots precipitated out of protests against police brutality and racial injustice following the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Biden’s video layered photographs of alleged white supremacists at events such as the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, over Trump’s remarks at the debate on Tuesday evening. Trump told the Proud Boys, a group tied to violent outbursts and hateful rhetoric, to “stand back” and “stand by.” Many, including Biden, took Trump’s remarks as a refusal to condemn white supremacists.
“There’s no other way to put it: the President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage last night,” Biden wrote.
There’s no other way to put it: the President of the United States refused to disavow white supremacists on the debate stage last night. pic.twitter.com/Q3VZTW1vUV
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 30, 2020
Marina Medvin, another attorney for Rittenhouse, also condemned Biden’s use of Rittenhouse in the advertisement. She echoed Wood’s call for a retraction.
“There is absolutely no evidence, not even a pinch, of this defamatory accusation that my client Kyle Rittenhouse is a ‘white supremacist’ — none. My client is a 17-year-old patriotic, dutiful American boy who came to ‘help people,’ that’s in his own words,” Medvin said.
“The fragrant defamation needs to stop. They can retract and apologize, or they can deal with Lin Wood in court,” she later added.
Statement from @MarinaMedvin, one of Rittenhouse’s lawyers: There is absolutely no evidence, not even a pinch, of this defamatory accusation that my client Kyle Rittenhouse is a “white supremacist” — none… They can retract and apologize, or they can deal with Lin Wood in court. https://t.co/yQpWetxLDO pic.twitter.com/agKS6t2zTi
— Julio Rosas (@Julio_Rosas11) September 30, 2020
Biden has commented on Rittenhouse in the past. He criticized Trump for declining to condemn the 17-year-old in the days that followed the shooting in late August.
“Tonight, the president declined to rebuke violence. He wouldn’t even repudiate one of his supporters who is charged with murder because of his attacks on others. He is too weak, too scared of the hatred he has stirred to put an end to it,” Biden said.
Rittenhouse faces five felony criminal charges, including first-degree reckless homicide and first-degree intentional homicide, in Wisconsin. He was arrested in his home state of Illinois on the night of the shooting. His attorneys have been battling to avoid extradition from Illinois to Wisconsin. Rittenhouse is being held in a juvenile facility. Prosecutors have argued that Rittenhouse should be tried as an adult and have asked for his arrest records to be made public.
