Kyle Rittenhouse says his new venture will help anyone sue media for ‘lies’

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Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois teen who traveled to Kenosha, Wisconsin in the midst of unrest after a non-fatal police shooting of Black man and ending up killing two and wounding one, says he’s setting up an organization that will help raise money to help people sue media organizations.

Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges in 2021, which occurred when he was 17. He has since turned 18.

On “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” Monday, Feb. 21, 2022, he said he’s starting The Media Accountability Project that will serve as a “tool” to raise money and “hold the media accountable for the lies they said and deal with them in court.”

He claims the project will help anyone who wants to take media to court. It’s not immediately clear how the project will raise funds or decide what cases to back.

He already is eying suing politicians, celebrities and athletes as well as “The View” moderator Whoopi Goldberg and “The Young Turks” founder Cenk Uygurf, specifically.

Rittenhouse says both have referred to him as a “murderer” despite him being found not guilty of homicide charges.

Rittenhouse has become a darling of the right wing, including popping up on conservative media outlets such as Fox’s cable channel that airs “Tucker Carlson,” in the days and months following the end of his trial.

Suing media organizations can be a complex undertaking, since libel, slander and defamation law in the U.S. is complicated.

There have been numerous cases of a wide variety of people suing media organizations for libel or defamation. Often media organizations settle out of court rather to undergo a lengthy and expensive legal battle (even if they feel they have a good chance of winning), and the terms of these settlements are often confidential.

Recently former vice presidential candidate and far right personality Sarah Palin had a defamation suit she brought against The New York Times dismissed.

The judge in that case cited a lack of “actual malice,” which is a legal principle spurred by a previous suit against the NYT in 1964 that went to the Supreme Court.

This concept, also known as the public figure doctrine, says that public figures pursuing a defamation case but prove that the outlet either knew the claim was false or illustrated “reckless disregard” for the truth.

Palin is planning to appeal and the case could make it to the SCOTUS.

In her case, Palin was suing over it erroneously linked a Palin’s PAC to the 2011 shooting that killed six and injured former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The judge in the case noted that the Times quickly caught its error and published a correction.