Kyle Rittenhouse's lawyer on Monday night defended the teenager's decision to speak to Fox News's Tucker Carlson for his first interview, insisting that Rittenhouse was not 'a crazy right-winger' - even as critics on social media said the interview was distasteful and 'gross pandering'.
Mark Richards, who won widespread acclaim for his representation of Rittenhouse during the 19-day trial, had previously said that he did not approve of his client agreeing to be followed by Carlson's team.
A documentary about the trial will be broadcast on Fox Nation in the next few weeks.
Richards said that he did not particularly object to Rittenhouse's decision to speak to Carlson on Monday, and insisted it did not mean the Illinois-born Rittenhouse held extreme views.
'Kyle's been through a lot, and he's, I think, feeling his way along in the world,' Richards told CNN's Chris Cuomo.
'I've talked to him about politics.
'I've talked to him about things that happen in one's life, and I don't think he's a crazy right winger. That's what I would say.'
Mark Richards, who represented Kyle Rittenhouse in his trial, insisted on Monday night that the 18-year-old was not 'a crazy right winger'
Mark Richards, attorney for Kyle Rittenhouse, tells @chriscuomo that Kyle is not a “crazy right winger” despite those who are attaching themselves to him for political causes.
“He went there to help somebody who he felt had been harmed. He wasn’t there to send some message.” pic.twitter.com/uH3zyKzRqW
— Cuomo Prime Time (@CuomoPrimeTime) November 23, 2021
Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty on all counts. The verdict came in at 12.15pm Friday in Kenosha, Wisconsin
Rittenhouse, 18, collapsed in tears as the jury in his double murder trial acquitted him of all charges after four torturous days of deliberation and weeks of testimony
Richards said he felt Rittenhouse had been used by his previous lawyers, Lin Wood and John Pierce, for money and to advance their own political causes.
The pair represented Rittenhouse immediately after the August 25, 2020 shooting dead of two protesters in Kenosha, but were removed from Rittenhouse's team by December.
'They wanted to portray him as a militia member who is fighting and protecting the world from an inept government, and Kyle wasn't a militia member,' said Richards.
'He was, you know, at the time, by law a child.
'He was 17 years old, young adult and he went there to help somebody who he felt had been harmed.
'He wasn't there to send some message or be some member of some organized or unorganized militia.
'He was trying to help out a friend's past employer whose business had burned down the night before and had two businesses left.'
Defense attorney Mark Richards is seen delivering closing statements on November 15
Kyle Rittenhouse, 18, is seen in court on November 15. The following day the jury retired to deliberate and try and reach agreement on the verdict, which they did four days later
Richards said there was no evidence at all that Rittenhouse was a white supremacist - despite Joe Biden in September 2020 lumping him in with neo-Nazis and Proud Boys.
'They went through all of his social media,' said Rittenhouse.
Kyle Rittenhouse, at 17, was legally still a child yet he was found to be carrying the gun legally
'He voluntarily opened his apple iPhone, which was
