Kyle Rittenhouse Confronted by Shooting Survivor, Protesters at Kent State

Paul Prediger, the man who survived being shot by Kyle Rittenhouse in 2020, turned up at the latter's scheduled college event to speak out against him on Tuesday.

Rittenhouse made an appearance at Kent State University as part of his series called The Rittenhouse Recap. The appearances have been met with mixed reactions from students. Before arriving at KSU, where a crowd was protesting his appearance, he also faced demonstrations at East Tennessee State University, the University of Memphis, and Western Kentucky University.

Newsweek has contacted Prediger and Rittenhouse's lawyer via email for comment early on Wednesday, outside usual business hours.

The 21-year-old was invited by Turning Point USA's chapters at four colleges to give a talk about "individual rights, self-defense, and the importance of upholding the rule of law," the conservative group's spokesperson Aubrey Laitsch told Inside Higher Ed in March. Laitsch said the talks are not an official tour, but come after the release of Rittenhouse's book, Acquitted, last year.

Rittenhouse came to public attention 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 injured then 26-year-old Prediger (formerly Gaige Grosskreutz), at a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

Rittenhouse 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.

Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges in November 2021, including 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, adding that he was at the demonstration to "protect businesses and provide medical assistance."

In video footage shared on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday, Prediger was shown addressing a group of students on the KSU campus when Rittenhouse was also scheduled to make an appearance at the college.

"Since November 2021, I've chosen to remain silent and not speak publicly regarding Kyle Rittenhouse and the events surrounding that night, having [preferred] my anonymity and safety over revisiting a traumatic period in my life," Prediger said in reference to being shot. "But that silence ends today."

Prediger said that while he was "simply trying to live my life and not relive those moments, Kyle Rittenhouse has taken a different path."

"He has used every moment to gloat and to make light of taking life. As if that were not enough, Kyle has embraced—and been embraced by—those who pedal hateful rhetoric, who believe in nationalism that excludes those who do not look like or think like them, and who have sought to amplify a troubling desire for violence against supposed political, cultural, and religious enemies."

Taking a swipe at Rittenhouse's recent business ventures, Prediger told the crowd that he was "not here today at Kent State to sell you a book that somebody else wrote, or full body armor military kits that I didn't design, or a subscription to an anti-woke payment processor, or to sell you the lies [about] BLM. That speaker is across campus today and his name is Kyle Rittenhouse. And, for an extra $37, he'll even autograph his book for you."

"Had Enough"

Prediger said that the purpose of his appearance was to "stand with the students of Kent State who have had enough. Enough of Kyle and his rhetoric. Enough of the celebration of the loss of human life. Enough of the flawed logic that because a 17-year-old, who shot me and killed two others... [and] is now somehow qualified to be a champion of gun rights."

"Enough of the sad fragility that proclaiming and accepting Black Lives Matter—because they do—somehow devalues or threatens white lives. Enough of the lies and the deceit that has been told by Kyle Rittenhouse for over three years about what actually happened in Kenosha, August 25th, 2020."

Prediger urged the students to join him at a venue on the campus for "a hopefully enlightening, teaching experience. Because students deserve an alternative to the hate and division that Kyle Rittenhouse seeks to sow on campus."

Rittenhouse responded to footage of the speech shared on X by posting a clip of Prediger in court, where he was seen admitting to pointing his gun at Rittenhouse before he was shot in 2020.

Newsweek has contacted Prediger and Rittenhouse's lawyer via email for comment.

Prediger's Newsweek Interview

In an interview with Newsweek earlier this month, Prediger—who changed his name in 2022 following what he described as post-trial harassment—criticized the apparent championing of Rittenhouse as something of a Second Amendment hero.

"Objectively, I think he's an idiot," said Prediger, who has filed civil action for the shooting against Rittenhouse. "Unfortunately, he is like a poster boy. He is this young, gun-loving Republican who is going on these speaking tours with [Turning Point USA founder and president] Charlie Kirk."

"I think, at the end of the day, he's a fraud, in the sense of what does Kyle Rittenhouse even know about gun laws, apart from whatever the adults in his life told him? Whether it's his attorneys or fans or other politicians. I mean, I don't think the kid has an original thought at all, and [is] parroting what he's been told. But that's because this is the only group—you know, right-wing extremists—that will accept him."

Stating that Rittenhouse "absolutely [does] not" deserve the platform he has been afforded, Prediger added that "he brings nothing of value to any discussion. And I'm not saying I'm anti-Second Amendment, or any of that. I'm just saying, what does [Rittenhouse] have to add to the conversation about gun control?

"What, because he shot a few people? I think it's just dangerous to put somebody at the forefront who really doesn't know what they're talking about. He has no real-world experience apart from that night. And that doesn't make you an expert [for] talking about gun control. But people who do know what they're talking about and do have an agenda to push, they understand that Rittenhouse will get the clicks, get the views, get the money going in. But I do not believe for one second that anybody takes him seriously."

Prediger said that if he and Rittenhouse ever came face-to-face, he'd likely greet him with "a solid, 'F*** you.' Had you asked me this question two years ago, my response would have been a little more sympathetic, but no. Anything I need to say to him, I'll say at the civil trial—and I don't mean like in a childish, petty kind of way. But there's nothing that I need to say to him personally. It's just my goal to take him down on this trial, and show the world what he is. And I think that'll speak enough within itself."