Live updates: Kyle Rittenhouse visits Western Kentucky University

BOWLING GREEN -- Kyle Rittenhouse, who gained nationwide fame after he fatally shot two protesters, is scheduled to speak at Western Kentucky University.

Rittenhouse was 17 in August 2020 when he fired an AR-15-style rifle during a protest over the shooting of Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He was later acquitted on five charges, including intentional homicide.

"The Rittenhouse Recap" is set for 7 p.m. today inside the Downing Student Union. The event is sponsored by the WKU chapter of Turning Point USA, an organization promoting conservative political values.

One group of protesters, the Bowling Green Freedom Walkers, is planning to meet an hour earlier across the street. And they won’t be the only group in attendance.

Here is a look at what's happening in Bowling Green.

While Rittenhouse’s appearance was scheduled for the evening, protesters didn’t wait to begin.

7:45 p.m. — The forum ends

Rittenhouse stepped down from the podium around 7:45 p.m. Protestors chanted loudly for a short time, but the crowd is starting to disperse.

7:15 p.m. — The forum begins

Rittenhouse took center stage soon after 7 p.m. — with hundreds of protesters booing outside the venue.

Two separate groups of protesters — For The People and the Bowling Green Freedom Walkers — met outside Downing Student Union before the event began. The two groups chanted in the lead-up to the event and didn’t let up once the forum began.

The crowd inside was limited, as the room had a capacity of about 120 people. Protesters and supporters alike appear to have been let in.

6 p.m.: A capacity crowd

Hundreds lined up at Downing Student Union to enter the forum by the time gates opened at 5:30 p.m.

Fifteen minutes later, they’d reached capacity. Ben LeNeave was there to speak with attendees in line, with a shirt that read “print guns, not money” and a sign-up sheet for his libertarian organization Young Americans for Liberty.

Rittenhouse was in “kind of a dumb situation” on the night of the shooting, LeNeave said, but he “did what was necessary to not get probably beaten to death.”

“I hope he speaks to both sides a little bit,” LeNeave said. “I think he’s mostly here to talk about the right to self-defense and the Second Amendment, things like that. … I do support him getting out.”

Rittenhouse was set to speak at 7 p.m. LeNeave had gathered about a dozen signatures in 20 minutes, he added.

5:15 p.m.: WKU addresses protests

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, WKU said it made its stance clear on Rittenhouse’s planned event — Caboni told students and faculty earlier this week that the school cannot prevent a student group from hosting a political event even if the speaker’s views are different or offensive — but it respects students who have spoken out.

“In his message to campus Monday, President Caboni outlined a number of ways the campus community could appropriately address topics or speakers with which they disagree,” WKU spokesperson Jace Lux said in an email. “We are proud that our students chose to make their position known in a thoughtful, peaceful and respectful manner today.”

Some students also raised concerns over WKU’s lack of action in opposing anti-DEI legislation in the General Assembly. The statement from WKU said the school “does not speak in detail about pending legislation publicly for a number of reasons” as a matter of practice.

5 p.m.: Protests on campus

Protesters who attended the sit-in left at about 4 p.m. to spread their message through campus, with others joining in as they marched.

At one point, the group stopped at a small Student Government Association outdoor gathering to call on the group to condemn Rittenhouse and Turning Point USA along with WKU’s response.

Organizer Avery Wells spoke briefly with SGA representatives at the event, which an official said had been planned weeks in advance to raise money for a Louisville-based organization supporting cancer research.

“We think that this is completely unacceptable that the university administration was not willing to adequately handle the situation by acknowledging the controversial nature of (Rittenhouse’s) presence on campus and the threat that he brings to students,” Wells, a WKU senior, said. “Those are two things are totally unacceptable to us.”

A separate protest is planned to begin in about an hour.

3:30 p.m.: A sit-in on campus

While Rittenhouse’s appearance was scheduled for the evening, protesters didn’t wait to begin.

For The People, an advocacy group for students and the community that leaders say was formed “a day after the Kyle Rittenhouse flier dropped,” hosted a sit-in at the school’s Wetherby Administration Building. Students were met by police when they entered the campus office Wednesday morning, according to organizers Arianna Pierson and Malick Diallo, and were still there hours later, with more than 20 others seated on the lobby floor.

“The administration claims neutrality but obviously they are not neutral, and we decided to come to a space where they can't hide in their offices,“ Pierson said. “This is where they work, so you come here, you see our faces, and it's a reminder that everything that is going on regarding the political climate of the university, you cannot ignore it. If we're in your face, you can't ignore us.”

They were driven to action in opposition of the Rittenhouse event, Diallo said, along with WKU leaders’ quiet response to Senate Bill 6 and other legislation pending in the 2024 General Assembly that would curb diversity, equity and inclusion measures at Kentucky universities.

WKU President Tim Caboni said the school cannot stop the event due to state law allowing free speech on campus. He was not made available for an interview Wednesday after a Courier Journal request Tuesday.

WKU has planned an event at Cherry Hall for students who will not attend the Rittenhouse forum, a gathering Diallo views as a distraction. He wants the university to denounce the event.

“It's just been an absolute insult to our intelligence and our emotions and our feelings — and not to mention our history as well,” Diallo said. “This is not a one-time problem.”

The group plans to continue protesting throughout the evening.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Kyle Rittenhouse visits WKU