‘I’m Disgusted’: Sheriff Crashes Out on Kyle Rittenhouse for Using a Man’s Killing as a ‘Stand Your Ground’ Prop—Then His Next Post Set the Internet Off
Kyle Rittenhouse’s return to social media in recent days has quickly reignited controversy, this time drawing a rare and blistering rebuke from a Florida sheriff who accused him of exploiting a fresh homicide to advance a political agenda. Rittenhouse, who was acquitted after fatally shooting two people and wounding a third during a racial justice protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in 2020, posted a video Friday from outside the Walton County Jail in Florida. In the clip, he defended Michael Rediker, a 44-year-old man charged in a deadly shooting, asserting that Rediker “used Florida’s ‘Stand Your Ground’ law to lawfully defend himself when his life was put in jeopardy.” KENOSHA, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 10: Kyle Rittenhouse becomes emotional describing events leading up to the shooting of Joseph Rosenbaum as he testifies during his trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse on November 10, 2021 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. (Photo by Mark Hertzberg-Pool/Getty Images) “Michael did nothing wrong, and he deserves all our support,” Rittenhouse said in the video, which he pinned to his X account. “We are expecting an outright not guilty under Florida’s stand your ground law,” he added. The comments prompted an unusually personal response from Walton County Sheriff Michael Adkinson, who reshared Rittenhouse’s post from the sheriff’s office’s official account, tagging Rittenhouse and his attorney Anthony Sabatini. “I’m actually just disgusted with @rittenhouse2a and @AnthonySabatini,” the sheriff wrote before detailing the facts of the case. https://twitter.com/WCSOFL/status/1999640824112431449?s20 Later, Adkinson released a video condemning what he described as reckless commentary on an active murder case. ‘Absolutely Disgusting’: Kyle Rittenhouse Appearance Derails After Angry Locals Raise Hell “I don’t normally do this,” Adkinson said. “I don’t normally take the time to speak to public comments on cases, certainly not open cases. But in this particular situation, a murder that occurred yesterday in Walton County, I feel compelled to respond to what I can only call wildly irresponsible." "I would say motivated by many factors, none of them in the interest of justice in which individuals, particularly Kyle Rittenhouse and his attorney, Anthony Sabatini, are attempting to frame the murder here in Walton County on Thursday of Mr. Keen as a stand your ground case or wrapping it in the Constitution or that it is Second Amendment case." The sheriff went on to detail the investigators’ account of the killing, emphasizing that the victim was unarmed and on his own property. “After 30-something years of doing this, I very rarely get personally offended, but I’m actually just kind of disgusted with them,” Adkinson continued. “There was a man who lost his life yesterday. A father, a husband with two small children, who was murdered, unarmed on his own property, unprovoked by an individual who drove a tractor over a half a mile onto the victim’s property." "Once there, batters his wife in front of eyewitnesses. When the husband, whom there had been no confrontation with, gets out to come over and help pick his wife up off the ground the suspect shoots him in the face. He was unarmed. There was no fight between them. There was no attack, and as he is laying dying on the ground, this suspect, Michael Rediker, stood over him and made some comments for which he is going to answer to in court.” Adkinson rejected outright the notion that the shooting could be justified under Florida law. “Now, somehow out of that, Mr. Rittenhouse and his attorney, Anthony Sabatini, have determined that this is the great stand your ground case,” he said. “Well, I’ll tell you this. I’ll bet my badge on this. Not only is that not a stand your ground, Mr. Rediker will face either the ultimate penalty in the state of Florida or God willing the rest of his natural life in prison.” The sheriff ended his remarks with a direct attack on Rittenhouse and his lawyer. “I think both of you are jokes, and I don’t think you should make a damn cent off the suffering of someone else,” he said. “So, if you don’t like that, well you can file that under I don’t really give a damn.” WMBB reported that Rediker was arrested on Thursday and charged with one count of open murder, battery, and three counts of aggravated battery. Rittenhouse’s comments about the Florida case were part of a broader return to public life online after months of relative silence. Earlier in the week, he announced his comeback on X. “I’m back on social media, I’m back in the fight, and I’m here to stay,” he wrote, posting photos with his wife. “For a quick update, 6 months ago I made the best decision of my life and married my best friend,” he added. “(Bella Rittenhouse), I couldn’t be happier. I love you beautiful.”She replied, “I love you!” When a supporter congratulated him, Rittenhouse responded candidly about his ongoing legal battles. “I’m still being sued for $20 million,” he wrote. “But thankfully the Lord provides.” He later suggested that what he described as the assassination attempt involving conservative activist Charlie Kirk was a turning point. “So I’m back,” Rittenhouse wrote. “Not quietly. Not halfway. I’m coming back in a big way.” Rittenhouse also sparked backlash after sharing an image of Tyler Robinson, the suspect accused in a shooting involving Kirk, and labeling him “The face of a coward. Pure evil.” View on Threads Reaction from critics on the left was swift. “Irony just went out back and hung itself in the shed,” one influencer wrote on Threads while sharing the image Rittenhouse had posted. Others piled on. “What's that old expression ‘takes one to know one’?” one person wrote. “I think Kyle may want to sit this one out,” another added. “Kyle should look at the mirror.” One comment referenced Rittenhouse’s emotional testimony during his own trial.“If they put him on the stand, all he has to do is cry like a bi—h and he’ll get off.”Another quipped, “Is that the kettle calling the pot black?” Supporters on the right pushed back just as forcefully, arguing that comparisons to Rittenhouse’s past were unfair. “Are you actually equating a cold, calculated murderer to a person who was being pursued, ganged up on, and attacked, protecting himself?” one commenter wrote. Another defended Rittenhouse’s actions in Kenosha. “I genuinely can't believe people are still mad about Rittenhouse… Like, this sh-t is on video. How can you say ‘he went there trying to kill people’ when he did everything in his power to not have to use his gun?”
