President Donald Trump has defended the actions of a 17-year-old accused of killing two people at a Black Lives Matter protest by suggesting he acted in self-defence.

Pictures have since emerged of Rittenhouse in the front row of a Trump rally in Des Moines, Iowa, in January – just seven months before the fatal shootings.

The teenager, who has declared himself a fan of the ‘Blue Lives Matter’ countermovement, was interviewed shortly before Tuesday’s shootings claiming he had travelled from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to help ‘de-escalate’ protests.

Asked about the weapon he was brandishing, despite being a year below the minimum age at which people can openly carry a weapon, the boy said: ‘We don’t have non-lethal.’

Pictures show Rittenhouse approach police officers with his arms in the air following the shootings, with witnesses saying he was allowed to pass through. He then fled the scene and crossed a state line back to his home.

Home of the brave, easy when you have an illegal weapon in your hand.

I'm not apportioning blame Cinders, but when BLM threw down the challenge, there was always someone to pick up the batten. I don't think he will be the last.....America is full of them...So is the UK, but if you haven't got a gun all you can do is wring your hands and write a strongly worded letter to your MP...

I'm not apportioning blame Cinders, but when BLM threw down the challenge, there was always someone to pick up the batten. I don't think he will be the last.....America is full of them...So is the UK, but if you haven't got a gun all you can do is wring your hands and write a strongly worded letter to your MP...

What challenge was that OGF??
I mus have missed it !

Donkeyman! 🤔🤔

The challenge that BLM wants to get rid of all the police, all the history, and make the white man a slave....There were a lot more unsavory and uncivilised things in their manifesto but I can't remember them all......It stands to reason that some redneck with a gun will want to make a name for himself...

Prediction expert Scott Adams, who is rarely wrong about his prognostications about human behavior, says that there will be more of this as our leaders have failed to control the situation. In his broadcast on Wednesday, Adams laid out his reasoning for the coming civil conflict.

I think I’ve been telling you for some time the obvious way that these protests/riots/looting episodes were going to go. There was only one way that these would go under the assumption that the police would not get more aggressive and that the local government would not let the federal government come in and take care of the violent stuff. There was going to be no adult supervision and that was intentional. The local leadership decided to not have any adult leadership during the protests/riots/looting. So it was obvious that the locals would end up arming themselves because what else would happen? Could you think of any other outcome? It was obvious this would be the outcome. And this is just the beginning, not just a one-off. It’s pretty obvious that more militia or more citizens are going to bring heavier arms…and they’re going to start showing up….There’s probably no way it’s going to stop.

The worst case scenario is if the protesters arm themselves…ultimately this is the way it had to go. I feel bad for anyone who gets hurt and I don’t encourage any violence but as a prediction this was the way it had to go. It will end, but with more of this.