This week, advocates for gun access in Michigan held a rally in Ionia featuring speakers including Kyle Rittenhouse, and images from the event circulated that seemed to indicate a paltry crowd.
A report from the Michigan Advance said just 100 people or so showed up, and that photographic evidence suggests that number of attendees was a peak rather than maintained throughout the event. Michigan Congressional candidate Emily Busch, a Democrat, shared an image taken as the event got going that showed… hardly anyone. Fewer than two dozen people are in the image as a musical performance takes place on the stage.
Rittenhouse, as a teenager, shot and killed two individuals during protests in Wisconsin following an incident of police violence against a Black man named Jacob Blake. Rittenhouse didn’t live in the area at the time, having traveled ahead of that night’s events. He went on trial for homicide but was eventually acquitted, claiming he acted in self-defense, and since the court proceedings concluded, he has occasionally emerged as a sort of conservative celebrity championing gun rights, with platforming from right-wing voices like Tucker Carlson (previously of Fox) and former President Donald Trump.
The event in Ionia was meant as a tentative replacement for an annual gathering held at the state capitol to promote gun rights. With Democrats newly in unified control of the state legislature and governorship, Michigan has recently seen significant progress on gun control, including with the imposition of red flag laws, which constitute a legal framework by which access to firearms can be temporarily limited for individuals believed to pose a danger to themselves or others. Under the leadership of Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer, who won by double digits despite enduring relentless targeting from Trump and allies of his, the state has also implemented universal background checks for purchases of guns within its borders.
A ban on firearms at the Michigan state Capitol is also pending, spurred by circumstances like a mass shooting at Michigan State University and armed demonstrations complaining about the governor’s approach to COVID-19, besides national happenings like the Capitol riot.
Rittenhouse’s 2A event in Ionia was PACKED. pic.twitter.com/gGpuTDW2tz
— Emily Busch (@EmilyCBusch) July 19, 2023
