Kyle Rittenhouse spotted at Florida restaurant after taping Fox News interview with Tucker Carlson
Earle KimelPLACIDA – Kyle Rittenhouse was spotted eating at a Placida restaurant, according to a tweet from Republican Party of Florida Chair of Chairs Evan Power. Rittenhouse recently spoke with FOX News host Tucker Carlson, for an interview that will be reportedly be broadcast Monday night.
The tweet by Power shows Rittenhouse sitting at Smokin’ Jerry’s Tiki Hut Bar & Grill on Gasparilla Road in Charlotte County, south of the coastal community of Englewood in Southwest Florida, with at least six other patrons.
Florida GOP Chairman Joe Gruters confirmed that Rittenhouse was in the area this weekend, for a segment for Carlson.
“I don’t know who he’s staying with, other than he's doing the Tucker Carlson Show,” Gruters said Sunday night.
“I always forget that Tucker Carlson has a place in Boca Grande so he’s probably getting ready for Thanksgiving and they probably have a little studio right there.”
Though Power tweeted the photo, it is not clear whether he captured the image.
Related:Kyle Rittenhouse not guilty on all counts of homicide, reckless endangerment
Rittenhouse was found not guilty Nov. 19 on five charges, including intentional homicide, more than a year after he shot three men during a protest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Rittenhouse shot three men – Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber, who died – and wounded Gaige Gosskreutz in the summer of 2020 during protests that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a black man, in Kenosha.
Rittenhouse and his attorneys argued that he acted in self defense.
In a clip released online by FOX News, Rittenhouse told Carlson for his program: “This case had nothing to do with race, it never had anything to do with race. It had to do with the right to self-defense.
“I’m not a racist person,” he continued. “I support the BLM movement, I support peacefully demonstrating.”
Earle Kimel primarily covers south Sarasota County for the Herald-Tribune and can be reached at earle.kimel@heraldtribune.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription to the Herald-Tribune.