Kyle Rittenhouse offers to ‘travel across the state line to Minnesota’ amid unrest over ICE shooting
Kyle Rittenhouse – who shot three people during unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin – offered to travel to Minnesota amid unrest after ICE fatally shot a woman.
‘After thinking about it, should I travel across the state line to Minnesota?’, Rittenhouse asked in a tweet to his 76,000 followers on X.
Five years ago, a 17-year-old Rittenhouse decided to travel from his home in Illinois to Kenosha during Black Lives Matter protests that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Rittenhouse was armed with an AR-15-style rifle at a riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he shot three people and killed two.
Since being acquitted of all of the charges against him four years ago, Rittenhouse has become a poster boy for Second Amendment rights advocates and right-wing political commentators.
But Wednesday’s tweet appeared to be in poor taste for even his most loyal followers with many of them.
‘No, and this isn’t funny,’ replied one X user, bluntly.
‘How do you even look yourself in the mirror in the morning?’ questioned another.
‘You should prob stay home with your beautiful wife and golden retriever!’ advised a third.
Kyle Rittenhouse tweeted that a suggestion he might ‘travel across the state line to Minnesota’ amid ICE-related unrest
Rittenhouse had become a political lightning rod during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, when he was seen carrying an AR-15-style rifle at a riot in Kenosha, Wisconsin
Demonstrators gather during a vigil near where an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a woman in Minneapolis, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Giovanna Dell’Orto)
Rittenhouse’s tweet came hours after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed a Minneapolis woman who was driving her car on Wednesday morning.
Federal officials say the shooting was an act of self-defense but the city’s mayor of described it as reckless and unnecessary.
The 37-year-old woman was shot in the head in front of a family member in a snowy residential neighborhood south of downtown Minneapolis, just a few blocks from some of the oldest immigrant markets and about a mile from where George Floyd was killed by police in 2020.
Her killing after 9:30am was recorded on video by witnesses, and the shooting quickly drew a crowd of hundreds of angry protesters.
By evening, hundreds were there for a vigil to mourn the death and urge the public to resist immigration enforcers.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, while visiting Texas, described the incident as an ‘act of domestic terrorism’ carried out against ICE officers by a woman who ‘attempted to run them over and rammed them with her vehicle.
An officer of ours acted quickly and defensively, shot, to protect himself and the people around him.’
In a social media post, President Donald Trump made similar accusations against the woman and defended ICE´s work.
Hours later, at an evening news conference in Minnesota, Noem didn’t back down, claiming the woman was part of a ‘mob of agitators.’
A bullet hole and blood stains are seen in a crashed vehicle on at the scene of a shooting in Minneapolis on Wednesday morning
Protesters near the scene of the fatal shooting involving federal law enforcement agents
People protest as law enforcement officers attend to the scene of the shooting
Last month, Rittenhouse, now 22, returned to social media with a gun-toting wedding picture, as he showed off his new wife, Bella.
‘I’m back on social media. I’m back in the fight and I’m here to stay,’ he wrote.
‘For a quick update, six months ago I made the best decision of my life and married my best friend, Bella Rittenhouse,’ the one-time shooter continued. ‘I couldn’t be happier. I love you beautiful.’
He then teased that ‘more big announcements’ would be ‘coming soon.’
Along with the post, Rittenhouse shared two photos from his wedding in which he appeared to be wearing an ill-fitted blue suit.
The controversial figure was also seen debuting a close-cropped haircut with facial hair as he stood next to his tattooed bride – who was pictured holding a rifle.
Rittenhouse used to be a regular on The Charlie Kirk Show – and said he had to take time off from work to grieve when the conservative podcaster was killed last year.
‘When Charlie was assassinated, I was on my lunch break at work,’ he told Fox News at the time. ‘I just got home to let my dog out. And I went on X and the first video I saw as my friend being murdered.’
Rittenhouse returned to social media last month with a post showing off his new rifle-wielding wife, Bella
He said that they were married six months ago and teased that more life updates were coming
‘I took the rest of the day off work. I took the rest of the week off of work because Charlie meant a lot to me,’ Rittenhouse added.
Kirk had been one of Rittenhouse’s most vocal supporters since he found himself at the center of controversy at the age of 17 – and even called Rittenhouse a ‘hero to millions’ at a Turning Point USA conference in December 2021.
Rittenhouse has said he acted in self-defense, claiming he was protecting local businesses from the raucous protests and was in fear of his life, when he opened fire at the Black Lives Matter protest in 2020 and killed Anthony Huber and Joseph Rosenbaum.
During that protest, Rosenbaum – a 36-year-old man grappling with mental health problems – aggressively pursued Rittenhouse.
Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber at the protest in 2020, but was later acquitted of both of their murders
He even threw items at the then-teenager and ultimately attempted to reach for his gun, according to eyewitness testimony, before Rittenhouse shot and killed him.
Besides Rosenbaum, Rittenhouse fired at two more assailants.
One of them, Anthony Huber, lost his life, while Gaige Grosskreutz sustained injuries.
But Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all five counts against him – including homicide, attempted homicide and reckless endangerment – and he was officially acquitted of his crimes in a highly-publicized trial four years ago.
After the verdict was read, defense attorney Mark Richards said Rittenhouse was feeling a ‘huge sense of relief’ at the verdict.
‘He is on his way home, he wants to get on with his life,’ Richards said.
In an interview with Piers Morgan two years later, however, Rittenhouse revealed he still suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from the incident.
Rittenhouse has since become a poster boy for Second Amendment rights advocates and right-wing political commentators
He regularly appeared on ‘The Charlie Kirk Show,’ and said he had to take time off from work when the conservative commentator was killed in September
He rebuked the journalist for asking how he feels about killing the two men, calling the question ‘inappropriate.’
‘It’s not an easy thing to do, it’s something I live with every single day, it’s nightmares I have,’ Rittenhouse said at the time.
Still, he defended his actions, saying the protesters ‘attacked me’ and ‘left me with no choice.’
‘I have nightmares every night of being attacked and being ambushed and them trying to steal my gun and pointing guns in my face,’ Rittenhouse revealed. ‘It’s not an easy thing to do.
‘But I did what I had to do to stay alive and if I didn’t, I would be dead.’
