Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie showed support for an Illinois teenager charged with murder after the shooting deaths of two people at a protest in Wisconsin.
Massie, appearing on the "Tom Roten Morning Show" on WVHU in West Virginia Thursday, said accused murderer Kyle Rittenhouse responded in self-defense when he allegedly shot three people, killing two.
"What does it say about our country where this lawlessness is going on to the extent that a 17-year-old feels compelled to stop it?" To be the one to turn the tide," Massie said. "I think it says a lot for the 17-year-old."
AP reported that Rittenhouse was "illegally carrying a semi-automatic rifle" at a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin, where he had traveled to provide "security," authorities say. The protest was in response to Jacob Blake, a Black man, being shot in the back several times by a police officer. Rittenhouse is accused of killing Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, who were unarmed, and shooting and wounding a third person.
Massie said there was a video of Rittenhouse running away from protesters and falling. He said the video showed people trying to attack Rittenhouse before he fired.
"I would not convict him of a single one of these charges," Massie said.
The criminal complaint filed by prosecutors said that Rittenhouse had already killed Rosenbaum before the incident that Massie called "self-defense," according to the AP. Rosenbaum had attempted to take Rittenhouse's gun, according to prosecutors. Huber also tried to disarm Rittenhouse after Rosenbaum died, according to prosecutors.
Massie said that during the altercation, Rittenhouse "demonstrated incredible restraint."
"He didn't empty a magazine into a crowd," Massie said. "There were people around him who could have caused him harm, but as soon as they showed any sign of retreat or non-aggression, he did not shoot them."
Massie's comments drew criticism from his opposition in the upcoming November election. Alexandra Owensby, the Democratic candidate for the Northern Kentucky congressional seat, said she was "beyond concerned" by Massie's defense of Rittenhouse.
"When people are being killed in the streets, a Representative should never praise the killer," Owensby said in a statement. "I shouldn't even have to say this!"
Kentucky Democrats said on Twitter that Republicans, including Sen. Mitch McConnell, needed to "disavow Massie's comments immediately."
Massie hasn't been the only Republican to defend Rittenhouse. President Donald Trump suggested Rittenhouse acted in self-defense.
"He was trying to get away from them, I guess, it looks like," Trump said Monday, according to the Associated Press. "And he fell, and then they very violently attacked him. And it was something that we're looking at right now, and it's under investigation. But I guess he was in very big trouble. He would have been _ I _ he probably would have been killed."
Self-defense was also the argument Rittenhouse's lawyer made. John Pierce has taken to Twitter numerous times to defend his client.
"If anyone has ever seen a single coherent argument that Kyle Rittenhouse is guilty of so much as jaywalking, please respond," he said. "I must be missing it!!"
Pierce also made a tweet comparing Rittenhouse to the "unknown Patriot" who fired "The Shot Heard Round The World" in 1775, leading to the American Revolution. The tweet was deleted for glorifying violence, according to Pierce. His account was temporarily suspended.
"A Second American Revolution against Tyranny has begun," Pierce said in the tweet, which Twitter deleted.
