Kyle Rittenhouse Gets Pulled Into Jennifer Crumbley Trial

Kyle Rittenhouse has become a talking point on social media, after Jennifer Crumbley was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter over her son's school shooting in November 2021.

Crumbley was on Tuesday found guilty on all four counts of involuntary manslaughter, after her then 15-year-old son, Ethan Crumbley, shot and killed four students at a high school in Oxford, Michigan. He also wounded six other students, as well as a teacher.

The prosecution argued that Jennifer Crumbley was responsible for the deaths due to her "grossly negligent" act of giving a gun to her son. She was accused of failing to get adequate mental health treatment for her son, despite signs he required help.

Testimony at the hearing revealed that the teen kept a journal in which he expressed his desire to "do the biggest school shooting in Michigan's history." The teen wrote in the journal: "The first victim has to be a pretty girl with a future so she can suffer like me."

"My parents won't listen to me about help or a therapist," the journal stated.

Jennifer Crumbley, who had pleaded not guilty, now faces up to 15 years in prison. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 9 for the mother, who has been in custody since she was arrested days after the shooting.

Her husband, James Crumbley, is set to go on trial for the same charges in early March. Ethan Crumbley was last year sentenced to life in prison without parole after pleading guilty to four counts of murder and one count of terrorism, among other charges.

The case has set a precedent when deciding whether a young shooter's parents should share the blame for their child's actions. It has also sparked conversations on social media regarding Rittenhouse.

Rittenhouse, 21, gained notoriety in August 2020 when, at the age of 17, he shot and killed two men—Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26—at a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Rittenhouse, who was using a semi-automatic AR-15-style assault rifle, also injured a 26-year-old named Gaige Grosskreutz.

He said the three shootings were in self-defense. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest where the shootings took place was held in the wake of Jacob Blake, a Black man, being left paralyzed from the waist down after he was shot by a white police officer that same month.

Following his trial, Rittenhouse was acquitted in November 2021 on charges of first-degree intentional homicide, attempted first-degree intentional homicide, first-degree reckless homicide, and two charges of first-degree recklessly endangering safety. Rittenhouse later said he supported the BLM movement, explaining that he was at the demonstration to "protect businesses and provide medical assistance."

Responding to news of Jennifer Crumbley's conviction, Mrs. Doubtfire screenwriter Randi Mayem Singer wrote on X (formerly Twitter): "Cool. Now do Kyle Rittenhouse's mom."

Rittenhouse has been contacted via social media for comment.

"Kyle Rittenhouse's mother should also be found guilty of involuntary manslaughter," another X user commented in reaction to the news.

"I'm pleased that the mother of the Oxford, Mich. shooter was found guilty on four counts of involuntary manslaughter," said another. "I wish the mother of Kyle Rittenhouse faced accountability in the same way this mother will have to."

"Now that Jennifer Crumbley is going to jail, Kyle Rittenhouse's mother should be next," opined another, who rounded out their post with the hashtag "#LockHerUp."

"My main thought on the Jennifer [Crumbley] trial is that Kyle Rittenhouse's mother should have gone first," another X user weighed in.

Amid the flood of comments expressing a desire for Rittenhouse's mother to face charges, many other X users pointed out there was a glaring difference in his case.

Responding to an X user calling for charges, one wrote that Rittenhouse was "found innocent of any wrong doing, what would you charge his mother with?"

"Kyle acted in self defense and didn't shoot anyone that didn't attack him," another said. "Neither him or his mother broke any laws."

Rittenhouse has documented the circumstances surrounding the shootings in his recently released book, Acquitted, which has been described as a "story of survival, resilience, and justice."

"I never wanted to be a public figure. I was homeless as a small child and raised in government-subsidized housing. My goal was to be a cop or a paramedic," a blurb for the book reads. "I went to Kenosha to help my community—not become a whipping boy in the national debate. In less than three minutes, the direction of my life was horribly altered when I was forced to defend myself with deadly force. So much was said and written about me that was not true."

Back in November, Rittenhouse's criminal defense attorney said that he has lost his money since he was acquitted in the Wisconsin shootings.

Talking to Court TV, attorney Mark Richards, who represented Rittenhouse at the trial, said: "He is working, he is trying to support himself. Everybody thinks that Kyle got so much money from this. Whatever money he did get is gone.

"He's living, I don't want to say paycheck to paycheck, but he's living to support himself. Obviously, as his lawyer and somebody who I want to do well, I hope he does re-engage in his studies. But right now he is working full-time, he is living a law-abiding life and he is doing something that he enjoys."

Rittenhouse has been open about needing money in the past and previously used an appearance on Fox News to request donations to his legal fund. He faces lawsuits from the man he shot and injured, as well as from the father of one of the two men he killed. Rittenhouse has denied wrongdoing.