Alleged gunman Kyle Rittenhouse gave thanks to his supporters during a recent phone conversation from a juvenile detention center in Illinois.
While speaking to attorney John Pierce, Rittenhouse sent a message to those who have stood behind him since he was arrested after a fatal shooting during a Kenosha protest last week.
Pierce tweeted a video of the call where the 17-year-old could be heard via speakerphone expressing gratitude to his support system. “I just wanna thank every single one of you from the bottom of my heart for the underlying support,” he said. “I just want to thank all of you for the mail I’ve been receiving. It’s been helpful.”
Rittenhouse also told his supporters to “stay strong,” noting he’s “going to be out” soon.
In the caption of the tweeted video, Pierce penned, “This must be the tweet heard ‘round the world!!!!!!” before asking followers to retweet and donate to the Fight Back Foundation.
Rittenhouse was accused of killing two people and wounding a third following a Jacob Blake demonstration last Tuesday (Aug. 25), just days after Blake was gunned down en route to his car by officers responding to a “domestic” incident. He was arrested and is currently facing criminal charges including one count each of first-degree reckless homicide and attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
Pierce has maintained his client acted in self-defense, claiming he was being attacked by protesters.
“If this is not self-defense for Kyle Rittenhouse under the circumstances, then no one can protect themselves, no one can protect their family and no one can protect their country,” Pierce said in the video, adding that self-defense is a “God-given right.” “We are not going to allow a prosecutor in Kenosha, Wisconsin to take it away from Kyle,” he continued.
Lin Wood, another attorney representing Rittenhouse, previously made the same argument as he insisted the suspect was protecting himself. “He was attacked with what was clearly lethal force,” Wood told Fox News. “He had the right to defend himself.”
Listen to Rittenhouse’s message below.