Kyle Rittenhouse Says He Didn’t Know Men He Posed With in Bar Were Proud Boys: ‘They Were Set Up by My Former Attorney’

Kyle Rittenhouse sat down with NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield and claimed he was unaware the people he took a picture with in January were Proud Boys.

Back in January, a photo circulated of Rittenhouse in a bar, wearing a shirt saying “FREE AS FUCK” while posing for a picture with Proud Boys.

Banfield brought up that photo in an interview Tuesday and asked Rittenhouse, “You have stated that you are not a racist, but there’s video footage of you using hand signs that are used by groups that are considered many to be white supremacists. Why have you associated with members of groups like the Proud Boys? Why have you used hand signs that are commonly associated with white supremacy?”

“That’s a good question,” Rittenhouse said. “I didn’t know that the OK hand sign was a symbol for white supremacy, just as I didn’t know those people in the bar were Proud Boys. They were set up by my former attorney, who was fired because of that, for putting me in situations like that with people I don’t agree with.”

“If I had known that they were Proud Boys, I would have said absolutely not.”

He clarified that he was specifically referring to his former attorney John Pierce, who sent him to the bar to meet those individuals.

“Your attorney arranged for a then-17-year-old to go to a bar to meet those people?” Banfield asked.

“For them to do security,” Rittenhouse said.

When asked if he regrets the encounter, Rittenhouse told Banfield, “I definitely don’t think it looked good to hang out with people who are now known to be Proud Boys. I definitely wouldn’t do that again.”

You can watch above, via NewsNation.