A NEPA (Northeast Pennsylvania) Republicans event slated to take place later this month has now been cancelled after the original venue pulled out over objections to the featured speaker: Kyle Rittenhouse.
NEPA Republicans founder and chairman T.J. Fitzgerald, had reached out to Rittenhouse after another venue in Alabama opted out of hosting Rittenhouse for a different event.
Fitzgerald's announcement that Rittenhouse was coming to speak in Plains Township, PA sparked controversy, with one resident complaining in a letter to the editor of the local paper that she was "absolutely furious that any establishment, anywhere, will welcome this disgusting glorification of gun violence.”
“No matter who you are politically, it is a no brainer that promoting someone like this is the wrong move if the goal is to unify the people. The current divisive political climate has been created as a result of moves like this. This kind of garbage has no place in NEPA, and we want it out.”
I was all in favor Rittenhouse's recent decision to keep a lower profile (he apparently got off social media over the summer), not because of his past but because I want to see his future involve more than being a one-dimensional public figure based on what was arguably the worst night of his life. Still, reactions like the one above absolutely infuriate me, and I'd say the writer's opinion is the kind of garbage that has no place in a civil society.
Kyle Rittenhouse was tried and acquitted by a jury of his peers, who found that he acted in self-defense in Kenosha during the riots in early August of 2020. We can argue about whether it was smart for him to be there in first place, but the fact remains that Rittenhouse's actions were carefully examined in a court of law and all twelve jurors concluded that his actions were justified.
That doesn't mean I want to pay $25 to hear him speak. As I said, I'd personally prefer that Rittenhouse retire from public life; for his sake, not mine or for the Second Amendment movement as a whole. But that's not my decision to make, and while the venue that was scheduled to host the NEPA Republicans' fundraiser has the right to decide not to participate, I think it's shameful of the Woodlands Inn and Resort to aid and assist those who want Rittenhouse to remain a pariah forever.
According to NEPA Republicans, the Woodlands canceled the event Wednesday but then said Thursday that it might still be allowed to proceed. The uncertainty prompted organizers to begin searching for another venue.
On Friday, T.J. Fitzgerald, founder and chairman of NEPA Republicans, confirmed the event is now “100% off.”
The group had maintained the event was intended only as a peaceful rally to shore up the Republican base ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
What else would it have been? Does anything honestly think that Rittenhouse was going to lead Republicans on an armed rampage through Plains Township? He would have spoken for a few minutes, shaken some hands, posed for some pictures with attendees, (probably) collected a check, and then would have been off to his next stop.
The left has no problem with a guy like Jay Jones, Virginia's soon-to-be Attorney General and someone who wished that a lawmaker's children would be murdered so that the politician would support gun control. For that matter, progressives have lionized Luigi Mangione, even though he's accused of assassinating a healthcare CEO by shooting him in the back. But Kyle Rittenhouse, who was acquitted of criminal charges after a jury unanimously concluded that he acted in self-defense on that chaotic night in Kenosha, will forever be a monster to the oh-so-tolerant left.
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