College Republicans Group Fundraises for Kenosha Shooter, Calls him "Community Volunteer"
College Republicans United (CRU), a student group at Arizona State University, began fundraising for the legal defense fund of Kyle Rittenhouse, the militia member accused of killing two Black Lives Matter protestors in Kenosha, WI. The protestors were demanding justice for Jacob Blake, a Black man shot and paralyzed by Kenosha police. Rittenhouse, who is 17-years-old, was charged as an adult with two counts of first degree homicide and one count of attempted homicide, as well as reckless endangerment and possessing a weapon while under the age of eighteen.
CRU’s fundraising page states: “We do not condone the death of these individuals but take note that these are not model citizens. Kyle Rittenhouse does not deserve to have his entire life destroyed because of the actions of violent anarchists during a lawless riot.“ The site features a photo of Rittenhouse cleaning graffiti off a wall, and labels him a “Community Volunteer.”
"Kenosha has devolved into anarchy because the authorities in charge of the city abandoned it," the site also reads. "They stood back and watched Kenosha burn. Kyle Rittenhouse is not a vigilante but a citizen who attempted to help in a city in chaos." Rittenhouse, it should be noted, is not from Kenosha, or even Wisconsin; he traveled from his home state of Illinois to join other vigilantes — including a man with a penchant for neo-Nazi propaganda — in Kenosha.
The President of ASU, Michael Crow, called the fundraising effort “appalling and misguided.”
CRU split from the less pro-Trump Arizona State College Republicans in 2018. In March of 2019, journalists at the Phoenix New Times uncovered racist, homophobic, and antisemitic messages shared by CRU members, as well as the news that the group had held an event with Tim Gionet, a neo-Nazi who goes by the name “Baked Alaska.” Offensive posts included reference to rapper Childish Gambino as “degenerate monkey filth,” advocacy for eugenics, homophobic and Islamophobic language, and the use of “echoes” to identify and target Jews online.
CRU leaders were forced to apologize, but also argued in a statement on the group’s website: “College Republicans United should be judged on the public work we have done, judge us on our accomplishments and failures. Don’t judge us based on private conversations.” In the statement, leaders also wrote: “We were pleased to hear Baked Alaska renounce ethno-nationalism and white supremacy.” Gionet briefly pretended to have left the far-right movement in March of 2019 — roughly the same time that the CRU event took place. Several months later, he abandoned all pretense and openly joined the white nationalist groyper movement.
On June 10, 2020, CRU leaders Rick Thomas and Julie Houtmani were interviewed by Michelle Malkin, a far-right extremist who promotes white nationalism and antisemitism. Malkin also interviewed other young extremists in the white nationalist groyper movement: Jaden McNeil a former Turning Point USA member, who founded America First Students as a more extremist alternative; Nick Reidy, an “America First Youth Ambassador” for Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Lauren Witzke, whose former campaign manager is a fascist and an antisemite; Marshall Whinne, president of Penn State Bull Moose Party, a white supremacist student group; and an anonymous Twitter personality who goes by “Chief Trumpster.” An anti-fascist researcher who goes by “Eyes on the Right” wrote about the interview on Angry White Men, a blog that tracks white supremacy.
Malkin serves as a bridge between youth fascist and white supremacist movements and members of government and the Republican Party — from local Colorado and Maine politicians, to former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions, to Donald Trump.