Ex-Florida AG calls Rittenhouse ‘a little boy trying to protect his community’

Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teenager accused of fatally shooting protesters in Kenosha, Wis. last month, is just “a little boy” who was “trying to protect his community,” so says former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R).

The 17-year old was arrested in late August for the shooting death of two Wisconsin protesters. Rittenhouse, who used a semi-automatic rifle in the attack, has been charged with first-degree murder, theGRIO previously reported. 

His case has drawn support from a number of conservative influencers and lawmakers, who have defended the teenager, dubbing him a “patriot.” Political commentator Ann Coulter tweeted that she wanted Rittenhouse as “her president.” 

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When Bondi appeared on Sean Hannity’s Fox News program on Tuesday to discuss the case, she noted that “People have to understand out there, that was a war zone. You have got a 17-year-old out there trying to protect his state,” Bondi said, The Hill reports. 

Rittenhouse is from Antioch, Illinois. His mother reportedly drove him to the anti-police brutality demonstrations in Kenosha, where he decided that it was his duty to protect public property by any means necessary. 

He was arrested in his home state a day after he allegedly shot three people — two fatally. Kenosha County Sheriff David Beth said one victim was shot in the head and another was shot in the chest, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.

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“He is helping people who have been injured. He has paramedic training from being a lifeguard. He is taking graffiti off walls. He is trying to mitigate the chaos out there,” added Bondi, a former special adviser to President Trump. 

“There were bullets flying everywhere. Other people were firing, This kid was trying to help people. Were there people killed? Absolutely,” she continued. “You’ve got a little boy out there trying to protect his community.”

Bondi went on to say… “Should he have been out there with a gun? No. But should he have been charged with murder? We just don’t know yet,” she added.

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