Kyle Rittenhouse’s family raise thousands in bid to avoid eviction

An online fundraiser set up by Faith Rittenhouse, the sister of Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse, has seen a surge in donations over the past 24 hours after being widely reported in the media.

Faith said she is seeking $3,000 to prevent her and her mother Wendy from getting evicted, which she linked to her “brother’s unwillingness to provide or contribute to our family.”

Kyle Rittenhouse shot two men dead, and seriously injured another, after rioting broke out following a Black Lives Matter demonstration in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on August 25, 2020, when he was aged just 17. He was subsequently found not guilty of two counts of homicide, two counts of reckless endangerment and one count of attempted homicide after a jury concluded he acted in self-defense. Rittenhouse claimed he had traveled to Kenosha to help protect local businesses from looting.

The fundraiser was launched on the GoFundMe website on May 30 and initially struggled with donations, having only raised $1,920 of the targeted $3,000 as of 3 a.m. ET on Friday. However after widespread media reporting, including from Newsweek, this figure increased dramatically and was at $5,259 as of 9:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, from 106 donations.

Titled ”Support Faith’s Family in Their Time of Need,’ the fundraiser includes a photograph of Faith receiving medical treatment.

She claimed her family had suffered “unimaginable hardships” and were “on the brink of losing everything,” having fallen behind on rent, “with only 8 days left in our apartment.”

Faith tied her hardship directly to what took place in Kenosha during August, 2020, commenting: “Just under 4 years ago, our lives were shattered when my brother was involved in a tragic shooting incident. The aftermath of this event uprooted our family’s stability and left us grappling with grief, trauma, and the harsh reality of starting over. We know that we are not the only family struggling to rebuild after that fateful night.

“In the wake of this tragedy, my family, among many other families, has faced countless challenges. We’ve had difficulty obtaining and maintaining employment due to the fact many people still believe my mother drove Kyle or was somehow involved in his decision to go to Kenosha. We’ve struggled emotionally, mentally, and financially to piece our lives back together. With my brother’s unwillingness to provide support or contribute to our family, we’ve been left to navigate this journey on our own.”

Faith added that she’d lost her job “due to frequent hospitalizations” and has been unable to work for four months due to medical problems.

She concluded: “We’ve exhausted every resource available to us, but we’re still coming up short. The reality is that we have nowhere else to turn, and time is running out. We’re pleading for your help, your generosity, and your compassion to see us through this crisis.”

Newsweek contacted Faith Rittenhouse for comment via the GoFundMe messaging service along with Kyle Rittenhouse using email and direct messages on Instagram and X. An online inquiry was also submitted to Texas Gun Rights, a campaign group of which Rittenhouse is campaign director.

Since his acquittal, Rittenhouse has developed into a conservative influencer and campaigner. Earlier this month he was sharply criticized after calling President Biden “gay” in a post on X.