Gun rights activist Kyle Rittenhouse — who gained national attention after being acquitted in the August 2020 Kenosha shootings that left two men dead — returned to social media on Wednesday with an unexpected announcement: he is now married.
“I’m back on social media, I’m back in the fight, and I’m here to stay,” the 22-year-old posted on X, sharing two photos of himself with his wife, Bella, including one in which she is holding an AR-15.
Kyle Rittenhouse ended his extended break from social media on Wednesday to reveal that he is now married.
“For a quick update, six months ago I made the best decision of my life and married my best friend. @BellRittenhouse, I couldn’t be happier. I love you, beautiful,” he wrote.
Rittenhouse was acquitted on Nov. 19, 2021, of charges including homicide, attempted homicide, and reckless endangerment in the fatal shootings of Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, as well as the wounding of Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, during the unrest in Kenosha on Aug. 25, 2020.
At the time, the then-17-year-old had traveled to Kenosha with a semi-automatic rifle and medical supplies, saying he intended to help protect businesses as riots erupted following the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man who was left paralyzed from the waist down.
His defense team successfully argued that he acted in self-defense after being confronted and attacked by the three men.
The couple posed with firearms in photos taken after their wedding.
Since his acquittal, Rittenhouse has remained an outspoken critic of gun control measures, including “red flag” laws that allow authorities to temporarily remove firearms from individuals deemed at risk of harming themselves or others.
“I support the Second Amendment because without it, I might not be here today,” Rittenhouse wrote in a later post on X. “In 2020, when I was 17, I was put in a situation where violent criminals attacked me, struck me in the head multiple times, and one even pointed a gun at my face. I’m no hero. I had no choice but to defend my own life in that moment. I’m not in prison — and I’m alive — because the Founders recognized our God-given right to self-defense, and the jury recognized that simple fact. If you believe we must defend the Second Amendment with everything we’ve got, follow me.”
