Kyle Rittenhouse Coming to Golden for Jeffco GOP Fundraiser

A week after Eric Trump comes to Golden for a fundraiser, infamous shooter Kyle Rittenhouse will be at the Jefferson County Fairgrounds on June 28 to raise money for the Jefferson County Republican Party, now headed by former jailbird Rich Wyatt.

Rittenhouse became a controversial figure in August 2020, when he drove to Kenosha, Wisconsin, with an AR-15 rifle and shot three people during a protest against police brutality; two died. But a jury acquitted Rittenhouse of murder charges.

"Kyle is a staunch advocate for the second amendment," reads an online flyer for the event sponsored by the Jeffco GOP. [He] is widely recognized for his acquittal in 2021 after defending himself during the 2020 riots."

Rittenhouse argued that he was acting in self-defense when he fired, but the incident became very divisive. He became a right-wing hero for conservatives and Republicans, with Trump calling him "a nice young man," while others argued that  he went to Kenosha with the intention of gunning down protesters who were supporting the Black Lives Matter movement after the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.

Rittenhouse will be the featured speaker at the Jeffco GOP's inaugural "Second Amendment Saturday" fundraiser at the fairgrounds at 15200 West Sixth Avenue. The fundraiser is expected to run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., though the online description doesn't specify how long Rittenhouse will be there.

Tickets are now on sale; prices start at $150 for general admission while VIP tickets cost $399 (youth from fifteen to twenty are free from 3 to 5 p.m.). The Jeffco GOP is asking people to donate an additional $50, too.

Under large letters pronouncing that "Rittenhouse Speaks Out," the flyer promises his appearance will be "the can't-miss event for every gun owner." His topics will be "mindset, concealed carry techniques, situational awareness, handling contact with law enforcement while armed, survival of challenges faced after use of deadly force situations," it continues.

A year ago, then-South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, the current head of the Department of Homeland Security, was supposed to come to Jefferson County for a similar fundraising dinner hosted by the Jeffco GOP. It was canceled because organizers feared they could not protect Noem from people outraged that she admitted to killing a dog in her memoir. 

But now, Golden will be seeing a lot of red in June. The Jefferson County seat will host the president's son Eric on June 21 at the Denver West Marriott; that fundraising gala is organized by the conservative-leaning Rocky Mountain Voice.

Earlier this year, the Colorado GOP struggled to pin down a venue for Steve Bannon, a right-wing pundit and White House advisor during Trump's first term who was jailed for contempt of court after the events of January 6, 2021. Hotels in Centennial and Colorado Springs both backed out of hosting the conservative gala on March 28. Ultimately, Phil Long's Music Hall, a former Boot Barn in the Springs that has hosted large Republican gatherings before, stepped in.

However, protesters didn't let the event pass quietly. About a hundred demonstrators rallied outside the venue to block people from seeing Bannon's keynote speech, holding up signs labeling him a Nazi. Calls to protest Eric Trump's appearance are already popping up on r/DenverProtests, a hub for organizers. One of the organizers that plans to protest Eric Trump is the local branch of Indivisible, which leads weekly rallies against Congressman Gabe Evans.

Protesters have already started planning to demonstrate against Rittenhouse's appearance next month.

Rittenhouse will be joined by Wyatt, the chair of the Jeffco GOP elected in February. Wyatt is an ex-reality TV star and convicted felon who spent six years in jail for selling firearms without a license, failing to report $1.1 million in income and conspiracy.

Wyatt's description on the JeffCo GOP site notes only that "Rich is also a former police chief [in Alma, Colorado, current population 312] and captain at the fire department," and adds that he's "most commonly known from his Discovery Channel TV show 'American Guns.'"