Politics

Police Officer, Paramedic Among Range Of Normal People Caught In Media Witch Hunt Over Kyle Rittenhouse Defense Fund

(Photo by JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP via Getty Images)

Brianna Lyman News and Commentary Writer
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Members of the media and several others have called for the firing of a police officer that donated to Kyle Rittenhouse’s defense fund after some of the donors’s personal information was leaked online.

Distributed Denial of Secrets found that several officials used their work-related email addresses to make the official donations, according to The Guardian. James Nguyen, a reporter for ABC4 in Utah, also attempted to get comment from a paramedic that donated $10 to the Rittenhouse fund.

Sgt. William Kelly of the Norfolk police department in Virginia reportedly made a $25 donation in September, and although the donation was made anonymously, his official email address was associated with the account, The Guardian reported. Kelly reportedly serves as the executive officer of internal affairs.

The message attached to the donation appeared to show Kelly’s support for Rittenhouse, according to The Guardian.

“God bless. Thank you for your courage. Keep your head up. You’ve done nothing wrong. Every rank and file police officer supports you. Don’t be discouraged by actions of the political class of law enforcement leadership.”

Democratic Virginia State Rep. Jay Jones, who is running for state attorney general, said Kelly should resign if he did in fact donate to the fund, according to The Hill.

“If these allegations are true, Officer Kelly must resign from the Norfolk Police Department immediately. Should he not resign, he must be terminated. There should be no place in our police departments for those who sympathize with white supremacists like Kyle Rittenhouse, who violently attacked peaceful protesters.”

Norfolk City Councilmember Andria McClellan, candidate for lieutenant governor, said Kelly should be fired if the allegations are true.

“The allegations against Sgt. William Kelly are deeply concerning. If they prove to be true, he should be terminated immediately.”

Talk show host Chip Franklin also called for Kelly’s firing.

Rittenhouse is accused of fatally killing two people during a Kenosha riot in August.

By September, a fundraiser for Rittenhouse had already hit half a million dollars.

Rittenhouse has pleaded not guilty on all charges filed against him.

Other donations came from a Huntsville, Alabama, employee and an engineer who works at a company in charge of maintaining the U.S.’ nuclear weapons stockpile, The Guardian reported.

Another donation showed a Utah paramedic donated $10 to Rittenhouse on August 30, according to The Guardian. Nguyen appeared to track down the paramedic and tried to confront him at his home.

Nguyen said he wanted to get the paramedics “side” of the story in a tweet that was quickly met with pushback.

Glenn Greenwald slammed Nguyen’s attempt as “pathetic.” Several others, such as Jason Rantz, also criticized Nguyen’s efforts.


The media has remained largely silent when Vice President Kamala Harris promoted the Minnesota Freedom Fund, a bail fund that helped free accused domestic violence agitators.

Six men bailed out by the fund between June and August were accused of domestic violence, records obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) showed. (RELATED: Harris-Backed Bail Fund Freed Rioter Twice. He’s Now Charged With 3 New Felonies)

Two of the men were facing felony charges for allegedly strangling women, another allegedly beat his girlfriend nearly half a dozen times, and all but one of the individuals had been convicted of prior domestic violence-related charges when the Freedom Fund bailed them out.

Harris previously told her Twitter followers to donate to the fund, which she said would help post bail for Minnesota protesters protesting against the death of George Floyd.

The Minnesota Freedom Fund later confirmed only roughly six percent of the money it had spent since Floyd’s death had bailed people who were facing protest-related charges out of jail.

In the months since Harris promoted the fund, the Minnesota Freedom Fund bailed Timothy Wayne Columbus who faces up to 30 years for allegedly sexually assaulting an eight-year-old girl, court records obtained by the DCNF showed.