Organizers for a Kyle Rittenhouse speaking event claim that the grocery chain H-E-B pressured the venue to cancel it, as reported by NewsBreak Original.
The 20-year-old was set to speak on January 26 at a “Rally Against Censorship” event at the Southern Star Brewery north of Houston.
The “Rally Against Censorship” was organized by Defiant Press and Publishing and included other speakers such as investigative reporter Cassandra Spencer, attorney Paul Davis, and former Navy Seal Justin Sheffield.
“Up until now, Southern Star Brewery had agreed to host this event with full knowledge that Kyle Rittenhouse would be invited and had no problem whatsoever,” said David Roberts, a Defiant Press and Publishing spokesperson. “It was not until H-E-B threatened to end their business with them that they decided to pull our event. Clearly, money talks and values walk for Southern Star.”
The Texas-based supermarket H-E-B and its CEO Charles Butt have been criticized for involvement in electoral politics and contentious political issues. Butt has drawn attention for his substantial contributions to Democrat and liberal Republican politicians, as well as his lobbying for significant expansions of mail-in voting on official H-E-B letterhead, leaving some customers feeling less welcome.
Mabrie Jackson, senior director of public affairs for the H-E-B central market division, denied to The Dallas Express that the company had anything to do with Southern Star Brewery’s cancellation of the event.
Rittenhouse made national headlines in the summer of 2020 when he fatally shot two people and injured another amid rioting in Kenosha, Wisconsin. On August 25, Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, traveled from his nearby hometown of Antioch, Illinois, to Kenosha, where his father lived. Rittenhouse brought a rifle with him, saying he wanted to help protect local businesses from looting, arson, and other threats.
Later that night, Rittenhouse shot Joseph Rosenbaum, who had been released from psychiatric care earlier that day, when the latter reached for his gun. In the chaos that ensued, Rittenhouse shot Anthony Huber, who attempted to hit him with a skateboard after Rittenhouse fell to the ground, and Gaige Grosskreutz, who drew a pistol and pointed it at Rittenhouse. Rosenbaum and Huber both died at the scene, while Grosskreutz survived with a gunshot wound to the arm.
At the end of a highly publicized trial, a jury found that Rittenhouse had acted in self-defense and acquitted him on all counts in November 2021.
Southern Star Brewery announced on January 13 that it would not be providing a venue for the Rally Against Censorship. The brewery’s proprietors explained in a tweet that the event did not “reflect [their] own values,” but denied that H-E-B had anything to do with the cancellation.
“We could not in good faith continue to rent our space for the event on 1/26. We don’t do rallies, we make beer for people who like beer,” the statement read.
Rittenhouse criticized the cancellation in a tweet, saying, “It’s really disappointing to see that places continue to censor me and not allow my voice and many other voices to be heard because they bend to the woke crowd. I’ll keep you guys updated on the event on the 26th that I was supposed to speak at.”
After his acquittal, Rittenhouse gained a following as an advocate against censorship, garnering nearly a million followers on Twitter.
Defiant Press and Publishing, which helped to organize the event, is a curator of conservative books. Some of the works it has published include a biography of former Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and books in support of Texas seceding from the United States.
According to the Defiant Press and Publishing website, the event took place at a different location.