Kyle Rittenhouse, who used a rifle to protect himself during the August 2020 Kenosha, Wisconsin, riots, says this will be the first year in which he is able to vote — and he looks forward to supporting pro-Second Amendment candidates.

Rittenhouse tweeted:

Rittenhouse was tried on murder charges following the August 25, 2020, incidents in which he shot and killed two men. He also faced one charge of attempted murder and two charges of reckless endangerment.

Kyle Rittenhouse waits for the jury to enter the room to continue testifying during his trial at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on November 10, 2021. (Sean Krajacic/The Kenosha News via AP, Pool)

On the night in question, Rittenhouse and a group of armed volunteers were guarding a car dealership that had been torched the night before. After Rittenhouse put out a fire, he was chased by a rioter named James Rosenbaum, who reached for Rittenhouse’s AR-15-style rifle. Rittenhouse fired four times, hitting Rosenbaum and wounding him mortally.

Rittenhouse was chased by a crowd and a rioter named Anthony Huber then hit Rittenhouse in the head and neck with a skateboard, and reached for the rifle; Rittenhouse fired one shot, killing him.

Another rioter, Gaige Grosskreutz, who was armed with a pistol, raised his hands above his head, then charged Rittenhouse with his gun pointed at him. Rittenhouse fired, wounding Grosskreutz in the arm.

Rittenhouse was put on trial in the fall of 2021 and on November 19, 2021, Breitbart News reported that he was acquitted of all charges.

NPR spoke to Milwaukee-area defense attorney Julius Kim after the verdict. Kim said, “I think that anyone who saw the evidence could see that the jury might have a difficult time coming to a unanimous decision that Kyle Rittenhouse wasn’t defending himself.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. AWR Hawkins holds a PhD in Military History with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.