Kyle Rittenhouse says his new book was written with the intent to tell his side of the story, rather than capitalizing financially on it.
Rittenhouse, who gained national attention in 2020 when he shot three people and was found not guilty on all charges, told British journalist Piers Morgan that the action he took to defend himself is "something I live with every single day," including post-traumatic stress disorder. During the interview, Morgan asked Rittenhouse if he felt comfortable profiting from his new book Acquitted, his side of what Morgan called a tragic story.
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"Well I'm not writing the book to make money, I'm writing the book to tell the story of what happened," Rittenhouse said. "I'm trying to change the narrative that media keeps putting out there that I'm some type of white [supremacist], racist person when that's just not true. I'm a 20-year-old kid who was put in a situation to where I was forced to defend myself, and I wrote a story and put that in a book so I could share that with everybody so they can understand what I went through, how my childhood was growing up, and the difficulties I deal with today."
Piers Morgan asks Kyle Rittenhouse how he feels about what he did. pic.twitter.com/iPIy7acKwz
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Rittenhouse was also asked what he thought of some conservatives who have called him a hero in the wake of his acquittal. He rejected such a title and argued that he simply did "what he had to do." He added that defending oneself does not make one a hero or a villain, but rather one doing "the right thing to stay alive."
When asked if he was concerned about how the book would affect people's perception of him, Rittenhouse said it was "worth the risk." He said he currently undergoes "some harassment," and that people are constantly asking to take photos with him.
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The shooting that Rittenhouse was a part of occurred during the 2020 riots in Kenosha, Wisconsin, which occurred a few days after Jacob Blake, a black man, was shot by police that August. Two of the men Rittenhouse shot, Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, were killed, and a third man, Gaige Grosskreutz, 28, was wounded.
Rittenhouse has maintained that his actions were necessary for self-defense and was found not guilty on two counts of homicide, one count of attempted homicide, and two counts of reckless endangerment on Nov. 19, 2021.