Nearly a year after his speech was disrupted by an angry mob of student protesters, Kyle Rittenhouse will return to the University of Memphis on Wednesday evening to talk about the Second Amendment and his controversial 2021 trial.
The University of Memphis chapter of Turning Point USA re-invited Rittenhouse to speak after the university and Rittenhouse’s lawyers worked out a deal to ensure an adequate security presence this time, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorney Mathew Hoffmann told Fox News Digital.
“The bottom line is universities cannot allow hostile students and other people to shut down speakers that they don’t like,” Hoffmann said. “That’s enshrined in Tennessee law and the First Amendment. The mob forced him to cut his speech short, and he left not being able to communicate his message.”
PROTESTERS DISRUPT KYLE RITTENHOUSE TPUSA EVENT AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS: ‘NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE’
Intervening on Rittenhouse’s and TPUSA’s behalf, ADF sent a demand letter in October asking the university to reschedule the event and “reimburse TPUSA an unconstitutional security fee it was forced to pay after the event was shut down.” The university did reschedule it, but did not refund the $1,600 fee “for security that stood idly by and allowed the mob to shut down the event.”
“They did change their security fee assessment system. The university has committed in advance of the event to give a short statement about promoting respectful dialogue and how disruption will not be tolerated,” Hoffmann said.
Rittenhouse was acquitted during a high-profile case in 2021 of five charges after fatally shooting two people and injuring a third during unrest in Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020. His defense attorneys argued he acted in self-defense after being attacked. The decedents, Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, both had criminal records, including allegations of domestic abuse, child molestation and disorderly conduct.
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The University of Memphis did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment by time of publication.
