Billionaire Bill Ackman took to Twitter on Thursday to defend Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse, calling the 18-year-old a 'civic-minded patriot'.
Ackman said that after watching hours of testimony from Rittenhouse's murder trial, he and his wife, Neri Oxman, believe the teen is 'telling the truth and that he acted in self defense'.
'We found him to be a civic-minded patriot with a history of helping his community as an EMT and fireman in training, in his removing hate graffiti earlier that day from a local school, and ultimately in volunteering to protect a business during the night of August 25th in Kenosha,' Ackman wrote.
Billionaire Bill Ackman (pictured) has issued his support for Kenosha gunman Kyle Rittenhouse's self-defense claim
The Pershing Square Capital Management founder urged his followers to listen to the teen's testimony before forming opinions on whether or not Rittenhouse is guilty.
He argued politics are interfering with justice and that 'Rittenhouse's life is at risk'.
'With respect to my own political bias, I am not a gun owner, nor a member of the NRA. On balance, I support stronger gun regulations and removing loopholes in the sale of guns. Unfortunately it seems that society's view of Kyle's innocence depends more on one's views about gun control rather than on what actually took place last August.'
He continued: 'Kyle Rittenhouse's life is at risk. Justice demands a fair trial. Society would benefit greatly if politics did not enter the court room and convict innocent people.'
Ackman claims his comments have shocked the online community, noting that he received a call from a reporter who he said 'couldn't conceive of the idea that I could believe that Kyle is innocent because I am not a right winger'.
Ackman said that after watching hours of testimony from Kyle Rittenhouse's (pictured in Wisconsin court on Friday) murder trial, he and his wife believe the teen is 'telling the truth and that he acted in self defense'
Rittenhouse, of Antioch, Illinois, was 17 when he shot and killed two white Black Lives Matter protesters in Kenosha, Wisconsin, with an AR-15 last August.
The case has since divided America with some viewing Rittenhouse as a patriotic vigilante who was defending his town from an angry mob, as the teen alleges.
Others argued he embodies the systemic racism that sent thousands onto the streets to protest police brutality, especially because Rittenhouse, a young white man, was reportedly treated with a soft touch by law enforcement before eventually being arrested.
Although Ackman's support for Rittenhouse may have seemed out-of-character to his social media followers, the known Trump critic is no stranger to stirring up political controversy online.
After the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol, Ackman called out then-President Donald Trump in a tweet, saying: 'It is time for you to resign and apologize to all Americans.'
In March 2020, he issued a stark warning to Trump, asking him to shut down the nation with an extended Spring Break
