Kyle Howard Rittenhouse (born January 3, 2003) is an American man who shot three men, two fatally, during the civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020 when he was 17 years old. At his trial in November 2021, a jury found Rittenhouse not guilty of murder and all other charges after he testified that he acted in self-defense. Rittenhouse's prosecution became a cause célèbre for right-wing organizations and media. Following his trial, he attended several events hosted by conservative organizations and individuals, including a meeting with former president Donald Trump, television features with political commentator Tucker Carlson, and guest appearances at several Turning Point USA productions. Rittenhouse's likeness has been used by fans to sell products, especially T-shirts. In 2022, he started a fundraising effort to sue media outlets in civil court for alleged defamation and announced a video game, Kyle Rittenhouse's Turkey Shoot, to raise funds for legal defense. Early life and education Kyle Howard Rittenhouse was born on January 3, 2003, in Antioch, Illinois, to Michael and Wendy Rittenhouse. His parents were married in Lake County, Illinois, in February 2000, three years before his birth. He has two siblings, an older sister and a younger sister. His parents separated by 2014. As a high school freshman, Rittenhouse participated in the Explorers program at the Grayslake Police Department, as well as a cadet program at the Antioch Fire Department, with the goal of becoming a paramedic or working in law enforcement. Eventually transitioning to online school, he dropped out and left Lakes Community High School altogether in 2018 after attending for one semester in 2017–2018. He expressed interest in law enforcement through publicly-viewable social media posts. In December 2018, Rittenhouse started a fundraiser through Facebook for Humanizing the Badge, a nonprofit. Other posts revolved around "honoring police, with Blue Lives Matter graphics, photos of officers killed in the line of duty, and the "thin blue line" flag associated with support for law enforcement." On his TikTok profile description, Rittenhouse had written, "BLUE LIVES MATTER 🔵" and "Trump 2020 🇺🇸 🇺🇸". On January 30, 2020, Rittenhouse attended a Trump rally in Des Moines, Iowa, seated in the front row. He got a part-time job as a lifeguard at the YMCA in Lindenhurst, but was furloughed in March 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Kenosha unrest shooting On August 25, 2020, when he was 17, Rittenhouse shot three men during