Kyle Rittenhouse Selling Body Armor, Magazine Pouches—'Always Ready'

Kyle Rittenhouse has taken to social media to advertise a full body armor kit and bundled package that has been named after him, years after his own homicide trial.

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, as well as injuring 26-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz—at a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

He said the three shootings, carried out with a semi-automatic AR-15-style firearm, were in self-defense. The Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest where the shootings took place was held after Jacob Blake, a Black man, was left paralyzed from the waist down after he was shot by a white police officer.

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."

Years after the controversy, Rittenhouse is now promoting The Rittenhouse Bundle from Armored Republic. According to the Arizona-based company, Rittenhouse designed the package, which includes a Testudo Gen 3 armor vest, ceramic body armor, a multi-caliber rifle magazine triple pouch, trauma pads, and a hydration pouch.

The bundle, which ships in two weeks, is currently being promoted at the price of $999, down from the regular total of $1,221.

In a video posted on Armored Republic's website and YouTube, Rittenhouse said the package is a "very practical kit, including everything that you need, all the way from hydration to first aid to general purpose to magazine holders."

Promoting the package on X, formerly Twitter, Rittenhouse wrote: "Get your Rittenhouse always ready bundle today!"

As of press time, the post has garnered more than 550,000 views.

Newsweek has contacted Armored Republic via email for comment.

Rittenhouse has documented the circumstances surrounding the 2020 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 had lost all 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 reengage 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 any wrongdoing.