Human Rights

Florida GOP Lawmaker Slammed for Saying That Kyle Rittenhouse Should Be a Congressman

A Republican lawmaker in Florida has stirred up a firestorm on social media after calling for a teen who’s been charged with murder to be elected to Congress.

Saturday, Rep. Anthony Sabatini tweeted “KYLE RITTENHOUSE FOR CONGRESS” just a day after Rittenhouse, 17, was granted bail, The Independent reports. Rittenhouse has been charged with allegedly killing two people and paralyzing another person during a protest against police violence in Kenosha, Wisconsin last August.

Rittenhouse was released Friday after posting a $2 million bond, thanks to donations from actor Ricky Schroder and “My Pillow” CEO Mike Lindell. He is due to return to court for a preliminary hearing next month.

With Donald Trump as president, the far-right has grown like a cancer and some of these people view Rittenhouse as a hero. Many expressed opposition to the protests against police violence and support the teenager’s claims that he traveled from his home in Illinois to Kenosha to help protect local businesses.

And Sabatini, who caused controversy in 2019 after it was discovered he wore blackface, isn’t beyond threatening protesters with gun violence, which he did earlier this year. Understandably, calls are growing for Sabatini to step down.

“It is time for Anthony Sabatini to resign,” said Jessica Harrington, a Florida-based gun control activist. “Let’s send a message to him and the Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives that black-faced white supremacists threaten violence and applaud killers have NOTHING to do with being elected officials.”

Harrington also couldn’t resist tweeting this:

But Harrington isn’t the only person outraged by Sabatini’s ridiculous tweet in support of Rittenhouse. Some notable people are also expressing their disgust, including Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. She found his tweet to be “inhumane” and “dangerous.”

Rosa Brooks, formerly an official with the Obama administration noted that “apart from the many other reasons this is crazy,” it’s isn’t even legal for Rittenhouse to do this because the minimum age for becoming a member of Congress is 25.

Just for fun, I’ve included more tweets upbraiding Sabatini for his stupidity. Enjoy!

This tweet sums things up quite well:

meet the author

Megan has lived in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida and she currently lives in Central America. Living in these places has informed her writing on politics, science, and history. She is currently owned by 15 cats and 3 dogs and regularly owns Trump supporters when she has the opportunity. She can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GaiaLibra and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/politicalsaurus

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