Leftist Groups at University Where Kyle Rittenhouse Takes Online Classes Melt Down
Despite being found not guilty of all charges against him, Kyle Rittenhouse has no right to attend Arizona State University, according to a collection of liberal students.
The Arizona State University Students for Socialism, Students for Justice in Palestine, Multicultural Solidarity Coalition and MECHA de ASU are planning a protest Wednesday and demanding that Rittenhouse be booted from the college, where he attends online classes, according to Fox News.
“ASU SHOULD NOT WELCOME A MURDERER ONTO THEIR CAMPUS,” screams a Change.org petition calling for Rittenhouse to be banned.
“He needs to be held accountable for the crimes he has committed. How is the law letting a murderer roam around freely? When did our society get to a point like this?!?” the petition yelled.
“We, the students of Arizona State University refuse to welcome a murderer onto our campus. ASU should be a safe and inclusive place for all students, which will be disrupted if Kyle Rittenhouse is allowed to attend this school,” the petition continued.
Join us and rally against racist murderer Kyle Rittenhouse being permitted on our campus – Wednesday at 3:30 outside the Nelson Fine Arts Center on campus pic.twitter.com/4Hs3JxRqtY
— Students for Socialism ASU ? (@SFSASU) November 26, 2021
The four groups calling him “Murderer Kyle Rittenhouse” also want the college to “reaffirm support for the multicultural center on campus as a safe space from White Supremacy” and move away funding that goes to the Arizona State University Police Department to the multicultural center, according to Fox.
“Even with a not-guilty verdict from a flawed ‘justice’ system – Kyle Rittenhouse is still guilty to his victims and the families of those victims,” a letter from the groups claims. “Join us to demand from ASU that those demands be met to protect students from a violent blood-thirsty murderer.”
Fox News reported that a spokesman from Students for Socialism at Arizona State University summarized their position.
“The goal of these demands is to let the ASU administration know that we as the ASU community do not feel safe knowing that a mass shooter, who has expressed violent intentions about ‘protecting property’ over people, is so carelessly allowed to be admitted to the school at all,” the spokesman said. “Our campus is already unsafe as is, and we would like to abate this danger as much as possible.”
The Rittenhouse trial “effectively gives right-winged individuals the license to kill other individuals who protest for human rights,” the spokesman stated.
“Rittenhouse took the lives of innocent people with the intent to do so — by strapping an assault rifle to himself in a crowd of unarmed citizens. That is the textbook definition of intention. The decision made by the court is one of thousands of cases that have been influenced by biased judges, predominantly white juries and mistakes inherent in a judicial system founded off of injustice to begin with,” the spokesman continued.
On his website, legal scholar Jonathan Turley pushed back against the students and the petition to kick Rittenhouse out.
…Rittenhouse has every right to attend ASU in person and has every right to expect that he can do so safely. If ASU cannot muster the integrity and courage to reaffirm those rights publicly, it has abandoned a core defining element for higher education…
— Jonathan Turley (@JonathanTurley) November 28, 2021
“Without a sense of irony, the petition declares ‘ASU should be a safe and inclusive place for all students, which will be disrupted if Kyle Rittenhouse is allowed to attend this school.’ Inclusive unless you are an acquitted individual who must be ‘held accountable,’” he wrote.
“The campaign reflects a growing sense that the legal system is only worthy of respect (or even protection) if it rules in the way that we demand. It is the same mentality that has led members of Congress, law professors and others to demand the expansion or restriction of the Supreme Court because it now has a conservative majority,” Turley wrote.
“The fact is that Rittenhouse cannot be expelled or kept off campus due to such mob measures. He would quickly prevail in court. However, the rally and the rhetoric magnify the risk to his safety by those who demand ‘accountability’ regardless of any verdict,” he continued.
“It will be interesting to see how many faculty step forward to defend his right to attend the college despite any misgivings over his case,” Turley said, noting that “we have seen faculty members join such mob efforts, even attacking others on campus, blocking speakers, destroying political signs or encouraging attacks on student journalists.”
“It is less common to hear professors today speak out for the rights of conservatives or others who are being targeted by campaigns on campus. The risk is simply too great that they will be ‘tagged’ as intolerant, racist or reactionary.”
“Rittenhouse has every right to attend ASU in person and has every right to expect that he can do so safely. If ASU cannot muster the integrity and courage to reaffirm those rights publicly, it has abandoned a core defining element for higher education. Colleges often sit in cringing silence as individual students are targeted and harassed. Students have every right to protest, but ASU must be clear and public in supporting Rittenhouse’s right to access to education on its campuses,” Turley concluded.
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