The Rittenhouse Recap: A Catalyst for Protests at WKU

The event was scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m., but people supporting and against the event showed up much earlier. The first protesters showed up at DSU around 5:00 p.m. Many recognizable faces were present. Bowling Green City Commissioner Dana Beasley-Brown, was in attendance to voice her opinion.

"Use your voices to come together today but not just today. Use it to continue to form organizations like For the People and to move for positive change here at WKU," stated Beasley-Brown. This was the main theme of the protesters, to not just come together to voice against this event but to every event or altercation similar to it. 

The doors to DSU Nite Class opened at around 5:40 p.m., as people began flooding into the building, protesters began chanting "Kyle is a killer," "No justice no peace," and "You can't stop the revolution, we are the revolution." This however didn't come without its negatives. Many professors and students in the surrounding buildings said that their classes were disturbed by the protests with even some classes getting canceled. More and more people showed up and the chants became louder and louder. One attendee of the speech said, "We could hear the protesters from inside the building." 

Around 6:00 p.m., the doors to DSU were closed as TPUSA sent out an email to everyone who signed up for a ticket that stated, "The venue has reached its 104 people." This, however, did not stop the protesters from continuing their chants. With the Bowling Green Freedom Walkers beginning to walk over to DSU at around 6:30 p.m., accompanied by chants and drumming from Karika Nelson, founder, and CEO of the Freedom Walkers, the crowd only got bigger, but also made more classes get canceled due to the noise. 

Soon, people began picking up megaphones and giving small speeches about the day. One protester said, "This establishes white supremacy and we can't stand for it." As time got closer for the speech to begin, those not participating in the protests were standing in front of DSU, chatting with each other about the day. At 6:43 p.m., protesters gathered at the South Lot entrance of DSU came to the ones gathered outside of DSU Nite Class to make the protest even louder. 

The chants continued and at 7:08 p.m., it was reported that Kyle Rittenhouse had entered Nite Class. This was immediately met with boos and a new chant "Kick his a** out."

 Rittenhouse began his speech at 7:10 p.m., with his opening statement being "I was set up for an ambush with no choice but to defend myself... I shot him, I had no other choice. It was the scariest situation I’ve ever been in my life.” He continued to say "I want to tell you that your university does not give a f*ck about you," and how it is up to the people to protect themselves. He proceeded with how everyone could be safe if they were allowed to carry on campus, and how whenever he is on campus in Texas he carries his gun. He ended his speech at 7:21 p.m. and opened the floor for a Q&A. The first people to ask questions were protesters and Rittenhouse quickly dismissed them. 

Then at 7:33 p.m., he gave his closing statement, "I know what I’m doing is right," and promptly left Nite Class. 

Throughout the entire speech, the protesters outside continued their "Kyle is a killer," chants and would continue to boo if they heard the microphone on.  At 7:38 p.m., the attendees began leaving Nite Class. While walking out of the building, the protesters began yelling at the attendees, "We don't support killers." This soon incited the attendees to yell back, "All lives matter." Both groups then began yelling at each other and calling each other "stupid" and "worthless." Part of both groups met each other at the front doors of DSU where they continued to yell at each other. 

Many words were exchanged, the Rittenhouse supporters telling the protesters "You guys are literally doing nothing," and the protesters saying back, "You are supporting a killer." As things began to get heated, one BLM supporter told a group of Hispanic bystanders, "You are the dumbest Mexicans I have met in my entire f*cking life," to which the police on the scene stepped in and split them up. 

"Overall there was racial tension, the room was segregated and there was a lot of yelling," said WKU student Caleb Neitzel, who came in support of Kyle Rittenhouse. "I think he really said anything that you wouldn't already know by watching past videos of Rittenhouse. I think the Q&A was better as a whole than the speech itself."

"It didn't seem professional, he used a lot of curse words and I believe his message would've been conveyed better if he kept those words out," stated WKU student Sergio Campos, who attended to just expose himself to the monumental day on campus. 

Campos continued, "The protest, I think did more bad than good. They had to call extra police and security to the event just because of them, and even a friend told me that their class was called off due to the noise." That was the main point the Rittenhouse supporters said and even what Rittenhouse himself brought up. The protesters caused distractions and more work for the campus. In a way, this was true—people were disturbed by the protest who had nothing to do with the event. Professors couldn't give their lectures and there was extra security on campus. 

At 8:00 p.m.,while the crowd began to lose numbers, many protesters decided to walk to South Lawn to gather together and continue to speak out about the protest. 

At 8:10 p.m., a prayer was said and people reflected on their experiences. They also began to speak about how they could continue to speak out on such events. Eventually, at 8:18 p.m., police told the crowd to disperse and leave. As the protesters began to leave, the scar of March 27th began to settle in. The day will always be cemented in WKU history. For some it is the darkest day as a WKU student—to others, a day of tolerance toward their views.