A Texas police department is defending itself amid online backlash after an officer shared a photograph of himself with Kyle Rittenhouse.
The Thrall Police Department, which serves a small city around 40 miles outside Austin, posted the selfie on Facebook.
“Make those stops, you never know who you might meet. Today it was Kyle Rittenhouse, welcome to Texas,” the post’s caption initially read.
Within a few hours, the department received a slew of criticism in the post’s comments, prompting it to add: “I must have missed something, I believed that this young man was arrested, charged, indicted and then found not guilty by a jury of his peers. Is this not how our country works anymore? The hate in these comments is terrible, if you have information that is contrary to that I would honestly love to hear it.”
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Rittenhouse was catapulted to the national spotlight in 2020, when, at the age of 17, he fatally shot two men and injured a third during the Kenosha, Wisconsin, riots. Last November, a jury in Wisconsin acquitted Rittenhouse of all charges, which ranged from intentional homicide to recklessly endangering safety. Rittenhouse claimed he was acting in self-defense.
The Thrall Police Department post garnered more than 1,700 comments, 1,700 shares, and 11,000 likes as of Monday morning.
“Is this a joke? You’re welcoming a known killer into our state? This is completely disgusting,” Phoenix Woods wrote in the comments.
“Sick you are making him out as a hero,” Kari Ashpaugh commented. “Shame on your officer and this department.”
“What a joke of a police department,” Nai Roberts stated.
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The officer who took the selfie has not been identified, and the reason for him meeting Rittenhouse remains unclear.
The Thrall Police Department did not respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
