Texas Brewery Didn’t Violate Kyle Rittenhouse’s First Amendment Rights, Censorship Activist Says

It’s no surprise that in this post-2020 world, Kyle Rittenhouse has become a real celebrity. In fact, he has become a very particular celebrity who transcends reality TV and gossip websites and often makes it to the front pages of news outlets.

The 20-year-old from Illinois rose to fame when he traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2020 at the age of 17, days after the local police killed Jacob Blake. Armed with a semi-automatic rifle, Rittenhouse shot and killed three people, killing two of them. He said he was helping to protect the business from the protests and riots going on at the time.

Even his choice of college became news when he announced in 2022 that he would attend Texas A&M University. He later admitted that he was not accepted at College Station and would instead attend Blinn College in nearby Brenham. For those who follow the news, it’s hard not to hear what Rittenhouse is up to or what he thinks about it.

More Texas-related news is now swirling around him, following a change in venue for an upcoming Rally Against Censorship event hosted by conservative publisher Defiance Press and Publishing.

On Friday, January 13, Southern Star Brewery in Conroe, makers of the popular Bombshell Pale Ale, announced through its social media channels that it will no longer allow the event to take place at its facility.

“South Star Brewery is an apolitical organization,” the statement said. “But we feel that this event does not reflect our own values ​​and we cannot, in good faith, continue to rent our venue for the January 26 event.”

Rittenhouse was found not guilty of murder and attempted murder in 2021 and almost immediately became a red state media darling. Regular appearances on Fox News, speaking to conservative student group Turning Point USA, and hundreds of thousands of social media followers soon became the norm for Rittenhouse.

For over a year now, Rittenhouse hasn’t needed anyone to give him a platform. He’s a walking, talking, twitter platform for himself. In 2022, he announced that he was launching his own initiative, dubbed the Media Accountability Project. His goal, he said at the time, was to “hold the media accountable for the lies they told” about him after the Wisconsin shooting.

Shortly after the announcement of the Rittenhouse Brewery tweeted to his nearly 1 million followers: “Very disappointing that places continue to censor me and prevent my voice and many other voices from being heard because they bow to the awakened crowd.” He soon tweeted again, noting, “I don’t support companies that don’t support the First Amendment.”

“… South Star Brewery is a private company and has the right to decide whose ideas it wants to support.” – Christopher Finan, National Coalition Against Censorship

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On the day of the Southern Star’s decision, Rittenhouse tweeted or retweeted about the fate of the rally almost 30 times. Obviously, nothing prevented him from expressing his opinion on this matter. His freedom of speech was not limited. Simply put, a private company choosing not to hold an event at which Rittenhouse was supposed to speak is not censorship.

“It would be illegal for the city of Conroe to ban a demonstration in support of Kyle Rittenhouse,” Christopher Finan, executive director of the National Anti-Censorship Coalition, wrote in an email. Observer. “But the South Star Brewery is a private company and has the right to decide whose ideas it wants to support.”

Southern Star Brewery is not the only restaurant that has changed its mind about allowing Rittenhouse to participate in an event held on its premises. Wednesday, January 18 at the Venetian Resort on the Las Vegas Strip was canceled by the organizers of the event, not the venue. In a statement following the cancellation, the resort said, “We are not speaking on behalf of our tenants, but want to emphasize that this event is not in line with our property’s core event guidelines.”

Rittenhouse’s Twitter biography states that he is a “1st and 2nd amendment advocate”. However, according to Finan, Southern Star was legally exercising its First Amendment right, stating that “The First Amendment effectively protects the right of private companies to decide what ideas they express.”

“The First Amendment only applies to government censorship,” Finan wrote. “In recent years, many conservatives have accused private companies, including major social media platforms, of “censorship” because they have banned some conservative speakers from spreading ideas they consider harmful, including hate speech, false information about vaccines, and other forms of misinformation. “.