Kyle Rittenhouse visit: Western Kentucky University braces for 'watershed moment'

Kyle Rittenhouse’s story is a Rorschach test for this generation — you see what you want to see.

His supporters will tell you the then-teen acted within his rights in 2020 when he brought a gun to a protest following a police shooting in Wisconsin and will point out he was acquitted after he shot three people who attacked him, killing two. His opposition, meanwhile, will say his presence alone caused the chaos that night and he’s spent years since cashing in on infamy.

Both sides will be in the Bluegrass State this week. Rittenhouse is scheduled to speak Wednesday evening at Western Kentucky University in an event sponsored by the school's Turning Point USA chapter. It's the latest stop on a high-profile tour across the region that has drawn significant backlash.

WKU Police Chief Mitchell Walker knows what’s coming. He has seen the footage from Rittenhouse’s stop last week at the University of Memphis — the speaker was drowned out by protesters during a brief speech at a campus hall, with some heated confrontations after the event ended.

"It is a concern. We're hoping that it (won't) be like that here at WKU," Walker said Friday. "We're hoping it'll be more peaceful than that, so we're just trying to make sure we have enough folks in place ... to make sure that tempers don't flare."

WKU Police will be on hand, he said, along with Kentucky State Police, Bowling Green Police and officials from the Warren County Sheriff's Office. They're hoping for a peaceful night, Walker said, but it's hard to guess how many people will attend.

The event will begin at 7 p.m. inside WKU's Downing Student Union in a room with a cap of about 120 people. Tickets are free, Turning Point USA WKU President Cade Holcombe said, but entry inside will be on a first-come basis — and with protests planned, the crowd at the building at the center of campus could spill outside.

"I wouldn't say it concerns me, I wouldn't say that. I'd say I'm prepared for something like that to happen," Holcombe said. "We've worked with WKUPD and security teams and whatnot to make sure everybody is safe and everyone in the crowd remains respectful and peaceful."

Holcombe, the lone Bowling Green Republican who responded to a request for comment for this story, isn't a Rittenhouse fanatic. "I don't condone his actions (during the shooting). I don't know why he would have been there in the first place. Personally, I wouldn't have gone, I would have stayed in my house."

But, he helped coordinate the event when Turning Point USA approached his branch about the potential speaking engagement. He said it's because he believes in free speech and "everyone deserves a platform."

"I'm honestly curious of what he has to say and I think he can he can start a good conversation between the students of Western Kentucky," Holcombe said. "Hopefully we can get somewhere and find a solid middle ground."

University officials cited free speech when asked about the event. The school is not sponsoring the event, WKU said in a statement provided by spokesperson Jace Lux, and the space was reserved by a student group through the same process other organizations use.

"While WKU’s commitment to free speech includes allowing groups to invite guests to campus, that does not mean that the university supports, endorses or agrees with the views of those individuals," the statement said.

Holcombe said he doesn't know what Rittenhouse will cover when he speaks, though a Turning Point USA page promoting the event and tickets said the speaker will cover "the importance of the Second Amendment and the lies of (Black Lives Matter)."

Ryan Dearborne, president of the Bowling Green / Warren County NAACP, has read that description. He understands the university's position in allowing the student group to host the event, but in his view, it doesn't sound like Rittenhouse is coming to campus with a message that will bring people together. His organization condemned the event last week.

"The essence of divisive rhetoric is what he's going to speak about," Dearborne told The Courier Journal. "I was just saddened and disgusted that a group would think that he would be a good person to bring to campus.

"There are a majority of students that don't want him on campus, and it's not politically driven. It's simply because they don't want a person like that on their campus spewing rhetoric that is dangerous and divisive," Dearborne said.

The local NAACP branch isn't sponsoring a protest, Dearborne said, but they'll support groups who are. One such organization is the Bowling Green Freedom Walkers, a social justice advocacy group planning a demonstration during Rittenhouse's speech.

Terry Smith won’t be there in person, but his efforts to stifle the event from afar illustrate the opposition organizers are facing.

Smith lives in Lexington but attended WKU in the early 2000s. The self-described “very progressive” University of Kentucky Hospital employee started a change.org petition against the event in mid-March when he heard Rittenhouse was planning to speak in Bowling Green — it landed more than 1,000 signatures in less than a week.

Rittenhouse isn't an academic with a message that will cause students to think, Smith said. He's someone who gained fame from a "questionable act and acquittal" who's on a "victory tour" speaking to like-minded audiences.

“It’s just more of the same from the extreme right, pushing things in our face that they’ve gotten away with,” Smith said. “… He has zero experience. He’s 21 now. He has nothing to say about any of this, and it’s being pushed as a political point.”

Dearborne, a 40-year-old man who's been with the NAACP for 16 years, drew a straight line from Rittenhouse's scheduled event to the 2024 General Assembly.

Republican lawmakers are likely to vote soon on measures that would curb diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at public universities across the state. Students planning to protest Wednesday are paying attention to what's happening in the legislature, he said, and deserve support.

"This is a watershed moment for a lot of these young people," he said. "We talk a lot about race and DEI, especially going on right now with the bills in Frankfort. This is the chance for them to see it upfront and how stuff like this affects them — how somebody who is their age, roughly, can come onto campus and cause a commotion with the things he will say."

Holcombe will listen Wednesday night, and he won't be alone. Disagreements between attendees and protesters are inevitable, he said, but he hopes both sides remain civil.

"Obviously, sometimes people get a little out of hand and that's not what we're looking for," he said. "You know, "I'm just hoping that people can come with an open mind and listen to him and be listened to."

Reach Lucas Aulbach at laulbach@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kyle Rittenhouse comes to Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green