Kyle Rittenhouse says he's destroying the AR-15 rifle he used in Kenosha and doesn't want anything to do with it

  • Kyle Rittenhouse said on a podcast that he's having the AR-15 he used in Kenosha destroyed.

  • Rittenhouse added that he didn't "want anything to do with" the weapon.

  • He was acquitted last month of five felonies, including first-degree intentional homicide.

Kyle Rittenhouse said he intends to destroy the AR-15 rifle he used in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

During an appearance on the conservative podcast "The Charlie Kirk Show" on November 30, Rittenhouse, 18, said the firearm was "being destroyed right now."

"We don't want anything to do with that," Rittenhouse told podcast host Kirk.

Rittenhouse was previously on trial for fatally shooting Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, and injuring Gaige Grosskreutz, during the August 25 Black Lives Matter protests in Kenosha last year. He was acquitted of five felony charges, including first-degree intentional homicide.

In the same podcast, Rittenhouse criticized Assistant District Attorney Thomas Binger for placing his finger on the trigger during a courtroom demonstration, saying it was not "Gun Safety 101."

"He was pointing the gun at the gallery, and I looked at my attorney," Rittenhouse said, referring to Corey Chirafisi, one of the lawyers on his defense team. "I said, 'Corey, that's Gun Safety 101.' Loaded or unloaded, treat a gun like it's loaded."

Rittenhouse also said during the interview that he aspired to be in law enforcement when he was growing up.

"Growing up, I wanted to be a police officer, to be able to help people when they're having bad days," Rittenhouse said.

It's unclear what Rittenhouse's next steps post-acquittal will be. During his testimony, he said he'd been taking online courses at Arizona State University, but ASU confirmed this week that he wasn't enrolled at the college. Students at the university asked for Rittenhouse's removal from online classes this week, calling him a "high-profile right-wing fascist icon."

Over the past two weeks, Rittenhouse has been meeting with conservative figures. He was interviewed by the Fox News host Tucker Carlson and met with former President Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago. Recently, Rittenhouse was also embroiled in a QAnon feud after he made comments about lawyer Lin Wood. He said he fired Wood over his QAnon beliefs and election-fraud conspiracy theories.

Read the original article on Insider