"I felt that": Kyle Rittenhouse slammed for stating that the Johnny Depp trial verdict is fueling him to sue the media for defamation
American teenager Kyle Rittenhouse has expressed his desire to file his own defamation cases in court after Johnny Depp won the high-profile defamation case against his estranged ex-wife Amber Heard.
Rittenhouse is known for shooting two people to death and injuring a third one in August 2020 during street protests in Kenosha.
On June 1, he took to his Twitter handle to congratulate the team of the Pirates of the Caribbean actor for winning the lawsuit, where the jury ruled that Amber Heard defamed the actor in an op-ed article she wrote in 2018 in The Washington Post.
"'The jury gave me my life back.' 'Truth never perishes.' — Johnny Depp. I felt that! Congratulations to Johnny and his team on his defamation suit."
In a second tweet, he said he will make "a new announcement" regarding his defamation claims shortly, and to "keep an eye on Fox News" and The Media Accountability Project's website "for more this week."
"Johnny Depp trial is just fueling me, you can fight back against the lies in the media, and you should!"
Twitter was furious after Kyle Rittenhouse's comment
After Kyle Rittenhouse tweeted that Johnny Depp's defamation case verdict was "fuelling" him to file his own defamation case, several Twitter users slammed him for comparing himself to the actor.
From calling him a "murderer" to commenting snarky gifs, Twitter users did not hold themselves back when Rittenhouse said he would sue the media.
Brief recap of Kyle Rittenhouse's case
In August 2020, Kyle Rittenhouse was arrested after he fatally shot two people - Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber - and injured Gaige Grosskreutz during the Jacob Blake protests in Kenosha.
The teen, however, pled "not guilty" in November 2021 to the accusations and sought to explain his conduct in "self-defense." He was acquitted of all five charges, which also includes a first-degree homicide.
Rittenhouse and his mother, Wendy Rittenhouse, have accused multiple groups of "defaming" him, ranging from President Joe Biden to media outlets and celebrities.
Rittenhouse indicated towards suing media companies in February 2022, telling Fox News' Tucker Carlson that he was starting The Media Accountability Project to gather funds to sue politicians, celebrities, and athletes. Rittenhouse also mentioned The View presenter Whoopi Goldberg and The Young Turks founder Cenk Uygur, claiming they were "on his list" of people to sue for referring to him as a "murderer" despite his innocence.
The website describes the group as "the official fundraising vehicle for helping Kyle Rittenhouse hold the worst offenders in our activist media accountable in court." It also offers a variety of items, such as shirts with the motto "Accountability Is Coming."
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