Saturday Bonus Podcast - Kyle Rittenhouse From The Archives

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Michael Barry Show.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Just a few days ago was the five year anniversary
of a young man barely barely old enough to vote,
not old enough to buy liquor in the state of Texas.
He ran to try to help during the Bill m
Black Lives Matter riots. They thought they would overpower him

(00:28):
and probably kill him. Name is Kyle Rittenhouse. He was
put in a bad situation where he was forced to
make a decision save his life and perhaps take the
lives of others.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
Or give his life.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
Because they were determined to kill him. Well, he fired
three shots in self defense. He hit a pedophile, a burglar,
and a domestic abuser. Pretty much everything you need to know,
isn't it? That was five years ago? Just a few

(01:11):
days ago, it just marked the five year anniversary. This
was our conversation just a couple of years ago with
the young man about his future and where he is now.
Kyle Rittenhouse is the only guest we've ever had in
our new studios. Much like Kyle Rittenhouse, I don't tell

(01:32):
anybody where I'm going to be and then show up
there for obvious reasons. There are some people who don't
like me, so we hide out in a very very
very as Mark Lemann would say, nondescript building, and just
as Rush Limbaugh did, and Kyle came rolling up and
couldn't find it because we're tucked away and very very

(01:54):
hard to find. But Kyle Rittenhouse is our guest in
studio to talk about who he is as a person
before we start the intro, to give you a little context.
I did something for this discussion. I don't like the
term interview. I did something for this discussion that I
don't think I've ever done, and that is zero prep.

(02:16):
I didn't want to know what other people thought about
Kyle Rittenhouse because I think we're going to gain a
lot more ground if we have a conversation with a
person without being biased, prejudiced, colored by what other people

(02:36):
said about him. So I literally didn't know research on him.
That was my strategy. I've never done that before, I'll
probably never do that again. And the reason is I
want to go into this with my eyes wide open,
and I want to see which things I remember from
what I saw in the media, because I know enough
as you do to realize there are a lot of
things that we were told that are not true. And

(02:58):
I hope we learn a lot of those. Before we
begin our conversation with Kyle Rittenhouse, a little intro to
take you back to the moment that he became as
a very young man. A household name.

Speaker 3 (03:10):
Kyle Rittenhouse is accused of killing two people and wounding
another with an AR fifteen semi automatic rifle in late
August of last year, now eighteen. The charges against him
ranged from murder to reckless endangerment. Writtenhouse pled not guilty
to all the charges. He is claiming self defense. The

(03:31):
shooting happened during a time of racial unrest and Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Three days earlier, Jacob Blake, a black man, had been
shot seven times by a white police officer. Blake survived
but was left paralyzed from the waist down. The officer
who shot him was never charged. The shooting occurred nearly

(03:51):
three months after the police killing of George Floyd and
sparked protests, some of which became violent, with buildings set
on fire and clashes with police. On the third night
of protests, Kyle Rittenhouse, then seventeen, left his hometown in
Illinois and cross state lines into Kenosha. He joined other

(04:12):
heavily armed vigilantes who said they'd band together to protect businesses.
Rittenhouse first shot Joseph Rosenbaum in the head. Rosenbaum, seen
here wearing a red shirt before he allegedly chased and
lunged at Brittenhouse, was not armed. Moments later, video footage
captured Brittenhouse being chased by a crowd of protesters and

(04:34):
having objects thrown at him. He falls and then shoots
at the protesters surrounding him. Anthony Huber is killed. Writtenhouse
also shoots Gage Grosscrits, who was wielding a handgun. Hours later,
accompanied by his mother, Rittenhouse turned himself in to police
as the jury reached verdicts to each account of the

(04:56):
information and one verdicutm one verdoy you find the defendant,
Kyle H.

Speaker 2 (05:01):
Red Health not guilty. I can't help but notice, Kyle,
how young you look like Terrabic. I know a nineteen
year old man with his girlfriend right outside the door
doesn't want to be called cherubic. You could be my kid.
You're just a couple of years older than my sixteen

(05:22):
year old and no offense. But he looks ten years
older than you. I mean I met you at mar
A Lago, but things were moving fast and there were
a lot of people there. I can't help, but notice
you've been through a lot and you're just I don't
want to say a kid, because you could be at war,
but this is a lot to process for a young man.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (05:44):
Yeah, it's been a difficult time, and I guess in
Wisconsin we just aged differently.

Speaker 2 (05:49):
Is all right? Like, jeez, yeah, when you agree to
come and have this conversation, you knew it was a
pretty safe space. You knew I wasn't out to get you.
You saw the things I'd written on Twitter about you
and your situation. But why agree to talk? Why not
just walk into the sunset and never speak to anyone again.

Speaker 4 (06:12):
I believe my story needs to be put out there.
I believe people have a misunderstanding of the facts of
the case. And the media gave me this platform. That
they gave me this platform, and I'm gonna use it
like they'd have famed me. They called me a racist,
they called me a white supremacist, and I believe I

(06:34):
have the right to defend that in the public opinion,
the public eye. And I'm not going to be quiet.
I can't be quiet.

Speaker 2 (06:43):
Do you actually believe you can change anybody's opinion I've changed.

Speaker 4 (06:46):
I've changed a few people's opinion. I think if they
really sit down and listen and they think hard, and
they watch my trial, I think they'll be able to
change their mind. And if they haven't opened, if they
haven't open and brain an open opinion.

Speaker 2 (07:03):
We just played that intro and I watched your face
to see how you reacted, what's going on inside you.
You kept a pretty calm face to hear your name
and terms like murder, to know that you were the
subject of every evening news. How did you were?

Speaker 4 (07:24):
How old?

Speaker 2 (07:24):
As I said, I did no intro, We're going to
start as if just like we've just met and you're
telling me this story fresh. So how old were you?

Speaker 4 (07:32):
I was seventeen when this all right?

Speaker 2 (07:34):
And when you hear all that talk about you, is
that a different Kyle Rittenhouse or is that still you?
Do you still internalize that or is it still like
that's something that happened and I can't believe that was me?

Speaker 4 (07:45):
I still internalize it every day. I'm like, Wow, I
can't believe like I was in the news yesterday, I'm
in the news every day, and it's something I'm getting
used to. But it's just weird waking up and just
look like I'll go and look at something random. I'll
go and watch a podcast and then my name will
be thrown in it. Or I'll be reading an article

(08:06):
about something completely different and the next article would be
about me, and I was like, Wow, this is weird.

Speaker 2 (08:14):
Do you wish it would stop?

Speaker 4 (08:16):
Sometimes? Yeah? Yeah, sometimes I wish the articles would stop
sometimes because a lot of times they're not true and
they're just hit pieces on me, and I have no
control over that. So what I do is I go
on media and then I tell my story and counter
some of the articles. If that makes sense.

Speaker 2 (08:35):
How long will it be until you can fade off
into the sunset and live a quote unquote normal life.
I mean, you commented that our Uber dr that our
our Amazon driver was dropping a package downstairs, and as
you were walking into the studio he recognized you. I
mean that, you know that's happening everywhere.

Speaker 4 (08:55):
Yeah, yeah, I don't know. I just I don't know
how long until I can live a normal life. I
don't I don't really know what we call normal nowadays.
But hopefully in the next couple of years. But right
now I'm facing a civil lawsuit where it's kind of
hard for me to live that normal life because I

(09:16):
got to defend this lawsuit and then all this other
drama going on.

Speaker 2 (09:21):
It's a lot to process for a very young man.
You had to grow up fast. Coming up, Kyle Rittenhouse
is our guest in studio. We're going to talk about
who he is as a human being. Get us up
to that fateful day, spend a few minutes on that day,
although that's not the purpose of today's conversation, and then
I want to move on to what is the purpose,

(09:42):
and that is what's happened since What did he learn,
how did he grow? Who betrayed him, who stood with him?
And more? Coming up with Kyle Rittenhouse.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
The Michael Berry Show.

Speaker 2 (09:54):
Please clap, please please cla.

Speaker 1 (10:00):
No, you know, okay, I like to.

Speaker 2 (10:06):
There's a little hit hop at the end. Kyle Rittenhouse
is our guest in studio, the first and only in
studio guests, probably the last in studio guests. We just
don't do it very often. But I wanted to be
across from him and look in his eyes as we
have this conversation, and he's going to be picking our
bump music today. So a little Jason Aldeen to start

(10:28):
the show. So let's let's take We got about nine
minutes in this segment. I want you to take me
from where you were born to where we are today
as a person. If I was watching a biography, a
biography of you, Kyle Rittenhouse, you were born.

Speaker 4 (10:46):
Where I was born in Lake Forest, Illinois. I moved
around a lot as a child. I lived in several towns,
including Wisconsin, Illinois Mixture. The last place before my shooting
I lived was Antiac, Illinois. I dropped out of high
school freshman year to work three jobs to help pay

(11:08):
for bills because my mom was a single.

Speaker 2 (11:10):
Mother, and so you lived primarily with mom. Yes, how
old were you when they separated?

Speaker 4 (11:17):
I was like seven, eight years old?

Speaker 2 (11:19):
Okay, were there problems before that? Did you want them
to bee? You know some kids whose parents are separated
or divorced, they'll say I wanted them to They fought
like cats and dogs.

Speaker 4 (11:30):
They did fight. Thinking back, I don't really know. I
don't remember how I felt in that time.

Speaker 2 (11:36):
I think I was just that wasn't a traumatic time.
Mommy and daddy don't live together anymore.

Speaker 4 (11:40):
Yeah, I just I was just too young to really
know what was going on.

Speaker 2 (11:43):
How did you end up with mom? Was that a
decision you got to make? Was mom the only one
really capable?

Speaker 4 (11:48):
That was Mom's decision. She was the only one that
was capable. My dad moved to Arizona. Then he moved
back to Wisconsin and outd go there on the weekends.

Speaker 2 (11:57):
Okay, And you stayed in touch with him, Yeah, somewhat okay,
and close to mom.

Speaker 4 (12:06):
Yeah, I would say I'm close to mom. I don't
really talk to my dad anymore.

Speaker 2 (12:11):
Yeah, for reasons you want to talk about it or not.

Speaker 4 (12:15):
No, No, I'm not gonna.

Speaker 2 (12:16):
You don't have to, Yeah, you don't have to. So
how would you describe your childhood? Happy?

Speaker 4 (12:23):
Yeah, it was just a normal childhood growing up in
middle middle aged America. Mom was working, I was working
for that, hanging out with friends, going swimming at the beach.
When I was younger, going fishing. That was one of
my favorite things to do. I would go fishing every

(12:45):
single day when I was a kid. One of my
little I fish occasionally occasionally. I love fishing.

Speaker 2 (12:53):
That's why don't you sound so Wisconsin. Even the way
you say fishing, it's clear you're not from Texas. I
can hear it.

Speaker 4 (13:01):
I don't have my Texas accent.

Speaker 2 (13:03):
Yet, you're working on it, but you do have a
trump like that. Yep. Ramon approved.

Speaker 4 (13:06):
Yeah, I think he said. I he thought I was
gonna pull up in a Honda or Hondai.

Speaker 2 (13:12):
Yeah, Honda or a Hyundai. We'd either one. Yeah, we had.
We were taking bets on what you were going to
pull up in.

Speaker 4 (13:17):
Yeah, I do like the Honda crtvs okay or whatever
those are called.

Speaker 2 (13:21):
That's what Chad Nakanishi dressed.

Speaker 4 (13:22):
Yeah, but yeah, that was one of my favorite things.
And then a little weird thing I used to do
when I was younger. I would film garbage trucks with
my best friend. And I see your look on your face,
You're like, that is weird.

Speaker 2 (13:35):
It was.

Speaker 4 (13:35):
It was a little weird, but it was.

Speaker 2 (13:36):
As trying not to betray my emotions. Why did you
film garbage trucks? You know? It was just that Nounce
as our guest, and he has very weird interests. We've started,
we've learned that already, all right, so go ahead.

Speaker 4 (13:46):
It was just a weird habit of mine, and I
thought it was fun. It was a fun hobby like
I used to want to be a garbage man when
I was younger, and I was like, oh, these are
these are pretty cool? Like I get to learn about them.

Speaker 2 (13:56):
And what would you do with this film that you
took of the garbage trucks? No comment?

Speaker 4 (14:02):
I would put it on a we Like there's like
there's a lot of Instagram okay, group chats and like
there's a bigger community than one might think.

Speaker 2 (14:11):
Okay, people who film? Is this some fetish thing or
something like that? Fifty two? I'm not on I mean,
I'm on Instagram, but I post a picture of me
and my kids. I don't I don't like, don't lure
me into something that people are gonna be laughing at me.

Speaker 4 (14:24):
I don't fulle grabs trucks anymore. But it was something
that I've grown out of that.

Speaker 2 (14:29):
There's a court order or what. Okay, we don't.

Speaker 4 (14:32):
Talk about that.

Speaker 2 (14:33):
Does your girlfriend about this trash? Okay? And she's cool
with it? Okay? All right? So so lead me up
any any sports activities extracurriculars in high school? I wrestled
and you dropped out of it as a freshman.

Speaker 4 (14:47):
Yeah, I wrestled before I dropped out of high school.

Speaker 2 (14:49):
Okay, So you, as I said, I didn't do any
research on you. I wanted just all to be fresh.
I only know the little tidbits that I kind of
vaguely recall from all that, and that was that was
a decision I made. So the decision to drop out
of high school. Were you in trouble in school? Were
you troubled? We're no bothered. Were you having trouble getting
up in the morning. What happened?

Speaker 4 (15:11):
We were not making enough money at my household to
pay rent?

Speaker 2 (15:15):
So I was mom.

Speaker 4 (15:16):
Mom was a Santa Ada nursing home, working seventy hours
a week.

Speaker 2 (15:21):
Okay. And who all was in the home.

Speaker 4 (15:25):
My mom and two sisters.

Speaker 2 (15:27):
And they were how old in relation to you?

Speaker 4 (15:30):
My mom just turned forty eight, My sister is twenty two,
and my little sister is eighteen, about to turn nineteen
about two weeks.

Speaker 2 (15:39):
Okay, So your mom was mid forties and your sister
was a year older than you. And did she stay
in school? She did? They?

Speaker 4 (15:49):
We we all ended up doing online. We switched online.
I actually finished high school. We all finished high school
during my shooting. We all got our high school diploma
right after the incident. Oh well, Okay, so we all
graduated after the fact.

Speaker 2 (16:06):
Okay, so when you dropped out, the intention was I
don't need I'm not going to get a high school. Well,
I'm getting into life right now. I got to make
some money. Yes, And what kind of jobs did you do?

Speaker 4 (16:16):
I was a lifeguard and swim in structure at the YMCA,
I was a lifeguard at the recplex. And I did
landscaping and maintenance at some guy's house.

Speaker 2 (16:25):
Okay, So then fast forward when you're seventeen and this happens.
What's going on in your life when that When that happens?
Why are you where you are at that moment? Where's
your headspace or you know, do you have normal relationships
or are you alone? How would you describe yourself?

Speaker 4 (16:43):
Well, I was just working as much as possible. I
was a police explorer, firefighter. Could at firefighter?

Speaker 2 (16:48):
Did you do that?

Speaker 4 (16:49):
I liked helping people. I liked I liked helping my community.
I liked giving back and volunteering. I liked going to
the food drives. I liked doing the shop with the
cop programs. Actually had a good friend of mine who
just reached out and I found his message in Twitter DMS.
He sent me a photo I'll show you after the
show from a shop with a cop event and he

(17:12):
was one of the officers that I that I shopped with.
Then I laughed so hard. You remember Ralphie from a
Christmas story? Yes, I work contacts now, but I used
to wear glasses. I looked just like Ralphie. How my
hair was done that day?

Speaker 2 (17:25):
That's cool? Was he proud of you? Yeah?

Speaker 4 (17:28):
Yeah, he sent me that photo. He actually reached out
to my attorneys. He was going to testify on my
behalf as a character witness, but my former attorneys didn't
reach out to him back. Okay, think they saw it.

Speaker 2 (17:41):
So why were you where you were on the living
Where you were when you were when the shots are fired?
Why were you in that place in the.

Speaker 4 (17:52):
House when my shooting happened. Why why I was in
Kenosha or why?

Speaker 2 (17:57):
Why why were you in take take me to you
in Kenosha's at that stage? Okay?

Speaker 4 (18:03):
Well, I was there because I was asked to be
there and I was helping a community that was my community,
like I practically live.

Speaker 2 (18:10):
No, No, were you living with dad? I want to I
want to get to that in just a moment. Where
were you living with Dad.

Speaker 4 (18:15):
At that moment, I wasn't living with Dad, but I
was spending all my time in Kenosha. I worked in Kenosha.
My best friends lived in Kenosha.

Speaker 2 (18:22):
Where did you sleep in Kenosha? The night before the shooting?

Speaker 4 (18:25):
I slept at my friend's house, where I spent half
my time. Okay, all right, eighty percent of my time
I was staying over at his house.

Speaker 2 (18:33):
Oh okay, all right. Again, No context did not know that. Okay.
So when all this happens, you leave from.

Speaker 4 (18:40):
That house, yes, okay, in Kenosha.

Speaker 2 (18:43):
He doesn't come with you. He does come with He
does come with you. Okay. As I said, I wanted
this to be all fresh and not know anything in advance.
And his name is Dominic Black. Dominic Black. Okay, and
are y'all still friends today?

Speaker 4 (18:56):
We don't talk much anymore because.

Speaker 2 (18:59):
Of that incident, or just we all grow up and
grow away.

Speaker 4 (19:02):
We grew up and grew away, and we took we
talk a little bit here and there.

Speaker 2 (19:06):
All right, we'll talk about the incident briefly, and then
we'll talk about Kyle rittenhouse and life since and life
in the future.

Speaker 1 (19:12):
Coming out with Michael Verry Show.

Speaker 4 (19:14):
Yeah, that's the one here.

Speaker 2 (19:20):
Kyle Rittenhouse is our guest in the studio. He's also
picking our boat music, so you'll get a sense of
his musical taste. I asked him to play the last
song that he listened to on his phone, and he
went to Tennessee Whiskey by Chris Stapleton. What app or
how else? How do you listen to music on your phone?

Speaker 4 (19:38):
Apple Music?

Speaker 2 (19:38):
Apple Music? Okay, all right, so let's get this over
with the and then I want to move on to
the Kyle Rittenhouse since that's far more interesting to me.
The quick description of what happened that night, we've got
an eight minute segment. You go, well.

Speaker 4 (19:54):
I went down to Kenosha. I was already there. A
friend asked me down. Nick. We we went to the
car source. We were cleaning graffiti, We looked at the damage.

Speaker 2 (20:05):
We uh.

Speaker 4 (20:08):
We met the car source owners. We talked to them
and then we offered our support. And then later that evening,
Nick Smith asked us if we can we could help
protect this business, and we agreed. I brought my first
aid kit.

Speaker 2 (20:22):
What kind of business was it was a car lot?

Speaker 4 (20:24):
Okay, one of the car lots have been burnt the
night prior. We we went back to Dominic's house and
I got my ar rifle which was at his house,
that stayed at his house, and I got I got
my med kit so I could provide first aid to
anybody who was injured. We then went down to the

(20:45):
car source lot. I was providing first aid to numerous people.
I uh, I did uh pep, I got pepper sprayed
by one person in the crowd, and then I was uh.
I was helping somebody who had an injured foot later

(21:05):
in the evening, so I provided first aid to countless there.
And then I got a call later in the night,
just to speed things up, that the car source lot
was on fire. So I went down there to car
source alot number three where the shooting happened.

Speaker 2 (21:22):
Are you getting paid by this guy? No, You're just
doing this to be nice.

Speaker 4 (21:25):
Yes, to provide first aid and help my community.

Speaker 2 (21:28):
All right, go ahead.

Speaker 4 (21:30):
And then I got a call that the car source
slot number three was on fire. So I went down
there with the fire. Thing was sure. And then as
I get there, I was ambushed by Joshua Zeminski, who
actually has a court hearing today. He's he's now charged
with several fellow NAIs for not that incident, but he

(21:50):
like kidnapped somebody and did some other.

Speaker 2 (21:53):
He kidnapped somebody, yeah, after all since then, yeah after
a bad guy? Yeah, okay, all right?

Speaker 4 (21:58):
Him and Joseph Rosen and his wife and another person
ambushed me, cornering me in between two parked cars. Joshua
Zeminsky fired a shot in the air. Mister rosenbomb grabbed
my gun and tried to pull it away from me,
and then I was chased down, attacked, and the rest
I can't really go into at the moment because I'm

(22:20):
facing a civil lawsuit on that end, so I can't
talk much about the rest of what happened.

Speaker 2 (22:24):
You're not the biggest guy in the world. No, at
this moment. It's not like it's lou for Rignant. But
you would know that it's not like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Right,
So you have to fear for your life. And there
are more of them than they're all of you.

Speaker 4 (22:36):
Right, There are hundreds of people attacking me.

Speaker 2 (22:39):
I was cornered, so you defend yourself for which you
were found not guilty. The damage is what we have.
One person dead, two people.

Speaker 4 (22:52):
I was forced to defend myself against three people. Two
of them unfortunately passed away. One of them got injured. Okay,
the one that pointed the gun at me survived.

Speaker 2 (23:03):
And then what happens?

Speaker 4 (23:05):
I went and I turned myself into the police.

Speaker 2 (23:07):
How do you get back home?

Speaker 4 (23:09):
So I walked back down Sheridan Road towards the police line.
I walk up to the police car and I tell
them I just had to shoot somebody. They pepper sprayed me.
I back off, I go back. They tell me to
go home.

Speaker 2 (23:22):
Pepper sprayed you?

Speaker 1 (23:23):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (23:24):
Why?

Speaker 4 (23:26):
I I don't know. I don't remember getting pepper sprayd actually,
but I saw it in video. And then I don't
contest that it didn't happen.

Speaker 2 (23:34):
And so you don't remember how it felt.

Speaker 4 (23:36):
I remember how it felt from when I showered, but
I thought it was just a pepper spray from earlier
in that night washing out, if that makes sense.

Speaker 2 (23:43):
Yeah, how bad is the pepper spray?

Speaker 4 (23:45):
It doesn't feel great?

Speaker 2 (23:46):
Right? Okay? So how far is your walk home from there?

Speaker 4 (23:51):
So?

Speaker 2 (23:51):
Actually your buddy's house, it dominates sause.

Speaker 4 (23:54):
We walked back to his car, which was about We
get back to his car, which is about a block
and a half away, and then we go back to
my house in Antiac, which is about a twenty minute
drive and that is in Illinois.

Speaker 2 (24:07):
Okay.

Speaker 4 (24:08):
And then I turned myself in with my mom at
the anti apolice department right when I get home because
Kenosha police they weren't accepting visitors. They were closed.

Speaker 2 (24:17):
Because of the riots. Yes, okay, how bad was the scene?
I mean in addition to what was happening to you?
I mean, cars, cars are on fire. I mean, is
this just apocalyptic?

Speaker 4 (24:28):
Is this?

Speaker 2 (24:29):
I mean? How bad is it?

Speaker 4 (24:30):
Everything was on fire? Like it was? It was really
sad to see see my community burnt to crisp and
just destroyed. Like there's buildings that were just like that
were there that were no longer there. And it was
just sad to say.

Speaker 2 (24:48):
How many buildings would you say you personally laid eyes
on that were on fire?

Speaker 4 (24:55):
Three or four?

Speaker 2 (24:56):
Wow?

Speaker 4 (24:57):
And there was millions of dollars in proper damage.

Speaker 2 (25:00):
Like what how would you describe the rioters protesters whatever
they are, how what were they up to? What was
their mood? Was it? Was it frenzied? Was it angry? Well?
I don't want to put words in your mouth. What
was there.

Speaker 4 (25:15):
They're violent.

Speaker 2 (25:16):
Violent.

Speaker 4 (25:18):
They were smashing windows, screaming, throwing rocks at the police,
throwing homemade gas bombs on the roof, pepper sprang people.
They're very violent.

Speaker 2 (25:30):
Was there a moment in the middle of all of
this where you're thinking they're going to kill me.

Speaker 4 (25:36):
Well, mister Rosam, I'm the first guy I had to
defend myself with. He said, I know you said, I
can't drop the f on the air, so I'm gonna say.
He said to me, I'm going to effing kill you
if I catch any of you efforts alone, and then
the second time, I'm going to effing kill you and
words to that effect.

Speaker 2 (25:58):
Yes, wow, that is a lot to process. So you
get home and you got to tell your mom what's happened.

Speaker 4 (26:10):
I was in such shock. I told her I shot somebody.
And then we have to go to the police department.

Speaker 2 (26:15):
And that's what you knew. I've got to go. I
can't run, I've got to go in. And you knew
they knew who you were, or it didn't matter if
they knew who you were. You were prepared to tell
them your name had not been released at this point,
because nobody knows who you are correct.

Speaker 4 (26:29):
Wow, well that's not true. I was getting thousands of
notifications on Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook, because people recognize your friends
and more.

Speaker 2 (26:39):
With Kyle Rittenhouse coming up micro or not, what he
says speaks to you.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
The Michael Berry Show.

Speaker 2 (26:50):
Our studio guest music Chris Young's Christmas is uh, probably
not one you'd hear from us often, since we're more
classic country guys. But he's nineteen and he looks. Sorry,
but he looks about sixteen. You don't have it. Do
you actually shave your face or you just you're not
even growing anything yet?

Speaker 4 (27:09):
No, I say morning.

Speaker 2 (27:11):
I literally didn't have to shave un till I was
twenty five, but now it comes in strong.

Speaker 4 (27:15):
I want a beard, but I can't grow.

Speaker 2 (27:16):
Yeah, I figured that. I mean, you look really young.
As I said, I didn't prep for this interview because
I wanted to be like the audience. I wanted no misconceptions,
no preconceived notions. But I remember when this thing hit
how young you looked like? Wow? And that really hit home,
which I think was to your advantage. People really understood

(27:37):
this is for all intensive purposes, a kid who hadn't
been out and about I think it's important when we
remember the young men that we send off to war.
They're kids. I mean, they were in high school yesterday
and now they're in the dust of Afghanistan or Iraq
and those sorts of places and having to make big
boy decisions. And they don't have a lifetime of experience.

(27:58):
All right, So we've moved past the shootings and the
firings of shooting. You've got to tell mom. Do you
call mom or do you tell her at the door?

Speaker 4 (28:07):
I tell her at the door. My phone was dead
and I tried to call her, but my phone died
right before I was able.

Speaker 2 (28:13):
To Are you crying? Are you in shock? What's what's
going on?

Speaker 4 (28:16):
I was having panic attacks. I was like freaking out.
My adrenaline was pumping, like like I was in shock,
Like I was scared. I was terrified. I was almost
killed in the streets.

Speaker 2 (28:29):
Of course. Are you at that moment thinking I can't
believe I'm going to have to put my mom through this?
I was.

Speaker 4 (28:36):
I was scared for what the future held. I was like,
I can't believe this just happened. Like what are we
gonna do?

Speaker 2 (28:45):
So you decide with Mom that we're going to turn
ourselves in Kenosha Police department is closed, So where do
you go?

Speaker 4 (28:53):
I go to Antiac Police Department where they call Kenosha
police and then several hours later detectives come. They mirandize me.
I take five. I didn't know Miranda very well. I
thought I did and I was just seventeen. I thought
I knew everything in the world at the time. Yeah,
and then I was like, no, I take it back.
I want to tell you my story. They're like, no,
you just pled the fifth?

Speaker 2 (29:16):
Aren't you glad now you didn't?

Speaker 1 (29:17):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (29:18):
Yeah, my attorney said that was probably the smartest, smartest
thing to do.

Speaker 2 (29:22):
Okay, so how long are you there? Do they hold you?
Do they cuff you? Do they? I guess they process
you atd intake. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (29:29):
So I was there for about fourteen hours at the
Antia Police moerament and then they decided they were going
to charge me and arrest me. So I wasn't handcuffed
at all until I was physically arrested. They took me
into a booking room, they fingerprinted me, and then I
had a hearing with a judge where I was denied
bond at first and then too late, and then I
was taking a deput Juvenile Detention Center where I was

(29:52):
thrown in a cell and all by myself, and I
was scared.

Speaker 2 (29:57):
Told me you wanted to be all by yourself.

Speaker 4 (29:59):
Yeah, yep, I found out I was.

Speaker 2 (30:03):
You wanted to be all by yourself. So there you
are for hello.

Speaker 4 (30:08):
I was there for and I forget how long I
was at dep GEE, but then after dep GI, I
was transferred to Kenosha County Jail where after my extradition
hearing and that I was in solitary confinement. I didn't shower.
I lost so much weight there.

Speaker 2 (30:24):
How long were you there?

Speaker 4 (30:26):
Eighty seven days?

Speaker 2 (30:27):
Alone? Oh?

Speaker 1 (30:28):
Wow?

Speaker 2 (30:28):
Is anybody coming to visit you? A lawyer or your mom?

Speaker 4 (30:31):
I was able listen to my lawyer. At dep GY,
I was alone to myself, but I was allowed in
the day room supervisor with the guard. They call them
youth counselors. They're actually really nice people, the youth counselors there.

Speaker 2 (30:44):
And they're watching you on TV.

Speaker 4 (30:46):
Yes, they know who you are, but they know what's
going on. And they were instructed to not talk to
me about what was going on.

Speaker 2 (30:52):
Yeah, and so what are you thinking at this point?
I mean, I guess part of it is. You have
to be thinking, this is now how I want my life,
how I intended my life to turn out right?

Speaker 4 (31:01):
Exactly.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
You got to be scared.

Speaker 4 (31:04):
I was terrified.

Speaker 2 (31:05):
You don't really have the tools to process what's happening
to you. Do you know what's going on in the
outside world at this point?

Speaker 4 (31:11):
No, I have no idea. All I know is I'm
getting thousands of letters, thousands.

Speaker 2 (31:17):
And what are are those letters? Positive? Negative? Or a mix?

Speaker 4 (31:20):
They were? They were mostly positive. Like, I'm just gonna
take a second to thank all my supporters who donated,
continue to donate, who send prayers.

Speaker 2 (31:29):
How does somebody donate you?

Speaker 4 (31:31):
They donated through a gift sand go to help pay
and and I llegal fund set up by my former attorneys.

Speaker 2 (31:36):
How does somebody donate to you today?

Speaker 4 (31:39):
They can go to ridd it www, dot gives, sang Go,
dot com, forward slash Kyle Riddenhouse and these funds are
to help pay for the civil lawsuit that I'm currently fighting.

Speaker 2 (31:50):
You don't ever like buy a water burger with it
ever so often? Now, okay? If you did, Actually I'm
more of an in and out guy, are you okay? Well,
you haven't been in Texas that long, so you can
still be an in and out guy. Just don't say
that publicly. How do you order in and out burger?

Speaker 1 (32:08):
Uh?

Speaker 4 (32:09):
I get it? Have you heard of animals?

Speaker 2 (32:11):
Yeah?

Speaker 4 (32:11):
Of course I get it like that, but like.

Speaker 2 (32:13):
You say it in a whisper, like I said, like
a secret. That's how Paris Hilton does it. That's how
I first heard that.

Speaker 4 (32:18):
I think that that's how I get my fries animal style.
I think I don't. I just get it regular double double.

Speaker 2 (32:24):
Okay, all right, So eighty seven days that's a long
time for a young man to be in jail and
you haven't even you know, you don't get a bond.
You don't get bail, you don't get to go out
and prep.

Speaker 4 (32:39):
So two days after I was to client bond, I
was given bond at Kenosha. But I had to go
to Kenosha first, okay, and that was two million dollars.

Speaker 2 (32:48):
You have to come up with two hundred thousand.

Speaker 4 (32:50):
No, it's it was full two million. There's no bailbond,
no ten percent.

Speaker 2 (32:55):
Oh like it was full. So you're stuck in. So
that's why you're stuck there.

Speaker 4 (32:59):
Yeah, And then eighty seven days go by, and then
thankfully I was able to post bail in Kenosha, where
I was released.

Speaker 2 (33:05):
And had you ever been outside the US?

Speaker 4 (33:08):
No, I've been to Puerto Rico once, but that's that.

Speaker 2 (33:11):
So I started life as a lawyer. And bonds are
based on the idea of flight risk, right, And you're
not a flight risk. Your seventeen year old kid with
no money who's probably never been outside those two, you know,
a couple of states. That is ridiculous. Okay, So what
happens at the end of eighty seven.

Speaker 4 (33:29):
Days I post bail, I'm released.

Speaker 2 (33:34):
So you came up with how much money?

Speaker 4 (33:36):
We were able to raise? Two million dollars in donations okay,
to pay to pay legal bills and to help post bail.
And it was amazing.

Speaker 2 (33:46):
Wow. Okay? And are you court appointed lawyer at this point?

Speaker 4 (33:49):
No, I was paying for an attorney, attorney, Mark Richards
and Corey Shrafsi, Okay, phenomenal attorneys. Without them, honestly, it
would have been near impossible. They're phenomenal. They were smart,
they're intelligent, they knew the self defense laws and that
they believed them, and they believed in my case, and
they were just great.

Speaker 2 (34:09):
At that point. Are you thinking to yourself, I'm going
to prison for a long time.

Speaker 4 (34:16):
I never thought like that. I knew I was innocent.
I was hoping the jury got it right, which they did.
I was scared that they were going to be swayed
by the media or they were going to be they
had to be. They didn't offer me no deal.

Speaker 2 (34:28):
They wanted to go to trial.

Speaker 4 (34:29):
They wanted to take it to trial.

Speaker 2 (34:30):
That was a stupid decision, really stupid decision.

Speaker 4 (34:33):
I wouldn't have taken a deal.

Speaker 2 (34:35):
Yeah, no, I know, but they would have been. They
had to see that a jury was going to see
your situation and that you had no alternative and they
can't win this. But their pride, I guess they thought
they were. They were going to satisfy a broader audience
and pin you to the wall, but it didn't work.

(34:57):
We'll talk more with Kyle Rittenhouse and what happened since,
take him up to the present and what is in
store for his future coming up. Kyle Rittenhouse is our
guests in the studio and he's picking the bump music.

(35:18):
I want to fast forward away from your case because
I'm afraid we're not going to have time to get
to you and we'll come back to your case. Okay, okay,
and all of that. I got a lot of questions
from listeners that I told you would be here, and
I'd just like to ask him and just kind of
give me if you would a fifteen twenty second. Okay, Debbie,
as is Kyle safe? Is he living in fear? Is

(35:41):
he living in hiding?

Speaker 4 (35:44):
Well, Debbie, that's a great question. And right now I'm
working on getting a new security detail. And sometimes it's
a little scary out there. I don't really go out.
I know who my friends are, and I don't really
travel alone, and I always watch out for my surroundings.

Speaker 2 (36:04):
Lee in Ames, Iowa says, what does a typical day
in your life look like?

Speaker 4 (36:11):
I wake up, I brush my teeth, and uh, I
go on social media a little bit and then post
some things. Uh, hang out with my friends and family,
study a little bit, pray, and then I take my dog.
I play with my little my dog, goldern trav a lot.
I was actually going to bring him, but I don't

(36:32):
think he wanted a dog running around here in no studio.

Speaker 2 (36:34):
No, we're dog people.

Speaker 1 (36:35):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (36:36):
You go to school on a gap semester right now?

Speaker 2 (36:39):
Okay, do you tell where you go to school, or
you keep that.

Speaker 4 (36:41):
I'm not gonna announce wry I go to school this time?

Speaker 2 (36:44):
No words. Uh, I know where it is and and
uh most people probably figured it out and that's good.

Speaker 1 (36:49):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (36:49):
What was the most difficult challenge you've had to overcome
after that fateful day? What if any epiphanies or moments
of clarity have you had during this process?

Speaker 4 (37:01):
Figuring out who your real friends and family are, like
learning their true motives and their intentions, and then learning
to cut ties with them in that it being okay
to take a break from that.

Speaker 2 (37:12):
Life's too short for negative people and people you're in
a situation where you have to ask people for a
big It's a big ask, right stand by me in
my time of toughness, even though all your friends are
going to say I'm a monster. And that's when you learn.
Most people will never have the opportunity to separate the
wheat from the chaff, but you had it at an
early age. Mark asks, most of us gun owners think

(37:33):
we'd be able to take a life and have no
problem with it afterwards. I don't believe that would be
the case. How has this affected you?

Speaker 4 (37:42):
It's not easy. It haunts me every night. I wake
up in cold sweats. I have nightmares from what I
had to do to save my own life. And it's
a tragic situation on all ends, and it's hard. It's difficult.
But talking to people like talking to it their past helps.

Speaker 2 (38:03):
Has Kyle received public support, words of support from the
business owner who requested his involvement. Now, No, So this
guy asks you to come down, and you do, and
he doesn't. He's not there getting shot at, threatened and

(38:24):
guns pointed at him, and yet he's not supporting the guy.
I mean, you had no alternative? Has Oh asked that
one already? What are Kyle's days like? Now? Can he
go even five minutes with having this shooting incident without
having this incident in his mind?

Speaker 4 (38:42):
Sometimes? But it's hard, it's hard to not constantly be
thinking about it, if that makes sense, Yep.

Speaker 2 (38:49):
Ask Kyle how the lawsuits are progressing. He's going to
be a wealthy man.

Speaker 4 (38:54):
We haven't filed any lawsuits yet. We're working on filing
some soon. We're currently fighting a of a litigation which
has taken up a lot of time.

Speaker 2 (39:03):
Or for that, what's the most unfair part of this process?
To you.

Speaker 4 (39:09):
I think it's unfair that people people won't learn and
take take the time to learn about the case. But
they're okay writing a tweet calling me a murderer racist,
but they won't actually take the time to get to
know me. I think that's the most unfair part of
it all, that they're just willing to say whatever they're

(39:31):
told and not take a minute of their day to
actually research the facts and the evidence of the trial.

Speaker 2 (39:37):
I'm sure I knew it at the time, but I haven't.
As I said, I made it a point not to
go back Kyle Rittenhouse is our guests not to go
back and look at any details, because I wanted to
start fresh. Was one of your get was one of
your was one of the people you shot?

Speaker 4 (39:52):
Black?

Speaker 2 (39:53):
No? So even if you were a racist, why why
are you being called a racist?

Speaker 4 (40:00):
I have no idea why they call me a racist.
I think it's them trying to push their own agenda
and make everything about race when it has nothing to
do with race.

Speaker 2 (40:10):
Wow, that's a real interesting phenomenon. What would you guess
the racial makeup of the rioters was when you were
down there?

Speaker 4 (40:19):
Predominantly white?

Speaker 2 (40:20):
Predominantly white, like Antifa tite folks. Yes, wow, would you
do it again? Would you go to that place again?
Would you go to that place.

Speaker 4 (40:29):
Again facing civil litigation?

Speaker 2 (40:34):
Yeah, we'll leave that alone. As I said, I don't
want you to say something you're not supposed to say.
I'm very, very well aware. I started life as a lawyer.
Patrick says, ask him what he wants to be when
he grows up. What does Kyle Rittenhouse want to be
when he grows up?

Speaker 4 (40:52):
Well? Now, I want to be an advocate for people.
I want to be an advocate for free speech to
the Second Amendment, and just to get my word out there,
to tell my story and to encourage other people and
just like if that makes sense, like advocates advocate for
other people who may have to defend themselves or in

(41:13):
a similar situation. My other passion is flying. I love planes.
I love flying. I'm actually a pilot school right now,
so that's what I do in my free time. I
study that at ground school. Okay, are you certified yet?
I have my student pilot license, but that's about it.
I'm not able to like fly people. If approved, I

(41:35):
can fly solo. I haven't done a solo flight yet.

Speaker 2 (41:38):
Though, okay. If it proved means you're not approved yet.

Speaker 4 (41:41):
My flight instructor would have to give me the okay.

Speaker 2 (41:44):
Okay, So listen to this email and I want to
see how you respond. Tzar, that's my nickname, is the
Star off talk. I'd like to ask Kyle how his
family's doing. Have they had to move or change their names?
What about the friend he went to the riot with.
Hopefully they're all in safe places. I'm sure the whole
ordeal was a men to strain on everyone. I'd like
Kyle to know how much I admire him for his
bravery and going to the right and his action since then.

(42:07):
Many would not stand up to the pressure. I've prayed
for him so many times, and God surely has his back.
Bless Kyle and his family and his friends. My grandson
in Kansas is sixteen. He looks so much like Kyle
at the time of his trial that I spoke to
my son about it. I wanted them to be aware
in case someone thought it was Kyle or tried to
mess with him. Fortunately that never happened. Thank you for

(42:27):
having Kyle on for an update. He's forever in our hearts.
Is it? I don't want to give you the words.
But how is it to know that people that you
will never meet or praying for you?

Speaker 4 (42:39):
It's very off left. I definitely feel the prayers every
day and I feel the spirit and it pranks joy
and happiness knowing that there are people out there that
care about me and love me and pray for me,
and it just makes me happy.

Speaker 2 (42:55):
Prior to Kenosha, have you ever experienced other stressful situations?
If yes, could you elaborate.

Speaker 4 (43:03):
When I was a lifeguard, I had somebody on my
on my deck who stopped breathing and I had to
I was working by myself. It was the front desk lady,
me and the manager for camp. And what happened is
he did I looked behind me and he started agniral breathing,
meaning he was like the snoring sound the rattle, and

(43:27):
I had to clear the pool and then we had
to help him and save him. He came back and
then he started agniral breathing when the paramedics got there,
and then I don't know what happened after that.

Speaker 2 (43:38):
Kyle Rittenhouse is our guest in studio, coming up.

Speaker 1 (43:41):
Live last doing it Big on the Michael Berry Showyle.

Speaker 2 (43:47):
Rittenhouse is our guest, and yes, he picked this as
his bump song as well, without knowledge of my love
for Elvis. We're not really sure. How did you come
up with hound Dog by Elvis? Is this like a
nod to your grandmother?

Speaker 4 (44:01):
No? I was healing Elvis. I saw the new Elvis movie.

Speaker 2 (44:04):
Oh yeah, what'd you think of it? You know there
was a correct answer, as I hated it, because if
you love Elvis, you hate the movie. But that's okay,
go ahead. You probably like Tom Hanks.

Speaker 4 (44:14):
The movie was an eye opener to see what the
colonel did.

Speaker 2 (44:17):
Elvis is a monster. Who would play.

Speaker 4 (44:24):
I don't know who?

Speaker 2 (44:25):
Do you?

Speaker 4 (44:25):
Who do you think?

Speaker 2 (44:26):
I don't know Ramon? Who would scholar? What do you think?
His girlfriend's here with him? Who should play him in
the movie? There's Pratt? I don't he's a modern actor,
but you can't say Leonardo DiCaprio for everybody, and Leonardo
DiCaprio is too old for him to do. Look at
him it, dude, looks like twelve. It's got to be

(44:47):
Scoby one of these young actors.

Speaker 4 (44:49):
Ryan Reynolds, You know Ryan Reynolds all time for Reynolds
looks nothing like me.

Speaker 2 (44:55):
What's the kid's name. Remember the TV show Ramon It
started with one is a only his number that you
remember that TV show? It was this kid he had.
He had this like a really really young face. Look
a really young Frankie Valley Stranger Things. Yeah, the kid
from Stranger Things. How about that?

Speaker 4 (45:13):
I don't know. I don't watch Stranger Things.

Speaker 2 (45:17):
He's nineteen, Romon, He's not. You have to remember he's nineteen.
He's he's closer to your preschool son's age than he
is yours by quite some distance. This was a lot
to process for a seventeen year old who is now
are you looking him up? He's looking him up. That's
what they do now, kids, look stuff up? Why move

(45:38):
to Texas?

Speaker 4 (45:39):
Texas is a great state, Like the people here are great,
the barbecue is great, and I honestly think this is
the safest place for me to live currently.

Speaker 2 (45:49):
Do you have a favorite barbecue joint in Houston or
in Texas?

Speaker 4 (45:55):
There's this place I like Cooper's Barbecue. There's this other
place I forget where it was in Dallas is really good.

Speaker 2 (46:02):
Dallas doesn't have a good barbecue. I shouldn't say that
because we have an affiliate in Dallas. But Houstonians are
very proud of our barbecue. I see, Oh is that?
Who is that?

Speaker 4 (46:10):
That's me?

Speaker 2 (46:12):
Oh my goodness, Holy wow. How old were you in
this picture?

Speaker 4 (46:17):
I was about fifteen.

Speaker 2 (46:19):
You look like a google. Oh my goodness, he's got
these big glasses on hermone Come look at this. This
is awesome. Man. Show that to a jury. Who is
this kid that they they're comparing you to?

Speaker 4 (46:32):
That's Ralphie from a Christmas story.

Speaker 2 (46:34):
Oh that's why they say that. Look at this pretty good.

Speaker 4 (46:39):
Now that photo has never been shown to anybody.

Speaker 2 (46:43):
Oh wow, you should. I would have shown that as
your defense. Wow, you got your little police officer, you
little police officer. Fella. Could you see yourself ever being
a police officer?

Speaker 4 (46:54):
That ain'tmore.

Speaker 2 (46:55):
No, I couldn't do it.

Speaker 4 (46:57):
I wouldn't the police. What the police go through on
a daily basis, You know, it's not correct. What'd ever choose?
And I'm thankful for whoever chooses that job. But I
can't blame the people who don't, and I can't blame
the officers who are getting out of it.

Speaker 2 (47:13):
My brother was an over thirty year police officer. He
passed in January twenty fifth of the year, he's still
active duty. And he said he had retired from his
first job as a sheriff's deputy and then went to
work for a smaller department. And he said, you know,
I wouldn't go into it again. And he all he
ever wanted to be was a cop. I mean from
when we were little kids. He hunted and he fished
and wanted to be a cop and that was his passion,

(47:36):
his dream. He said. It's not the same as it
used to be. The support for the officers, the respect
for the officers. You know, bad guys will walk up,
and yeah, it's just it has dramatically changed. Michael writes,
mister Rittenhouse, are you still able to visualize the shots
that took out your attackers or is it a blur

(47:58):
as it's often described.

Speaker 4 (48:02):
I'm not going to count on that one.

Speaker 2 (48:04):
Yeah, I got it. I told you I'm good with that. Uh.
Is it easier to pick up ladies this? Is it
easier to pick up ladies, ladies or get a date
since the incident?

Speaker 1 (48:16):
Uh?

Speaker 4 (48:16):
Well, I only have my eyes for one person time,
so no, I'm not looking.

Speaker 2 (48:25):
When you go to places. This is not a listener question.
When you go to places and people want to take
a photo with you. Why do you think they want
to take a photo with you, I don't know.

Speaker 4 (48:35):
Because they support me, and maybe they want to show
their friends or have a memory that they met me.

Speaker 2 (48:42):
I don't. I don't know. And also because you're famous,
all right, So it's it's if you're famous. I mean,
whether you like it or not, you are famous.

Speaker 4 (48:51):
It took a very long time to realize that. And
some days I still don't think I'm famous, and then
I have to get reminded that a lot of people
know who I am. And it's a weird I It's
it's very weird. Will you write a book maybe maybe
maybe in the future.

Speaker 2 (49:12):
Tell me somebody famous who reached out to you that
meant a lot to you, that they lent their support.

Speaker 4 (49:19):
Brian Urlacker, I know he said, sport Donald Trump.

Speaker 2 (49:24):
Well hold on, we'll get to Trump. Brian Lacker reached
out to you.

Speaker 4 (49:28):
He didn't reach out to me directly, but he said
something in an interview or something.

Speaker 2 (49:32):
If you live in Wisconsin, one of the greatest Chicago
Bears of all time reaching out to you or reaching
out to your I think he posted.

Speaker 4 (49:41):
All I'm not a heart professor, but I know he
either reached out to my family or he posted something
on Twitter.

Speaker 2 (49:47):
If we could make that happen, that'd be super cool.
And you know what what you'd have to do, because
you don't want to just be like hi, mister Lacker.
I'm I'm ky written as well, you know, proud of you,
young man hanging in there. You'll do your best. You
want him to agree to stand still with his feet flat,
not one in front of the other, steep feet flat,
and you get a fifteen yard running headstart, and you

(50:11):
get to hit him and see if you can take
him out. I'm serious, Its memorable.

Speaker 4 (50:17):
I'd break my shoulder problem and.

Speaker 2 (50:18):
We film it. I did that to Marcus Latrell without
him knowing it was coming, and I lifted him off
the ground just a little bit, and then when his
feet came back, he spun around in the same motion
and took me in threw me down, and it hurt
like hell. But I was extraordinarily drunk, and I've remembered
it for the rest of my life. Please ask mister Rittenhouse.

(50:39):
This was a common one. I'm only pulling some of
the random ones, but there were a lot that asked
this question. Please ask mister Rittenhouse. Is it difficult to
go anywhere in public, like do things like grocery shopping
or go out to eat?

Speaker 4 (50:50):
Yes, yes it is.

Speaker 2 (50:53):
Is it difficult because you weren't a public person and
now you are and these people are recognizing you and
it's odd for you and Skyler or whoever you're with
because you just kind of want a moment. Is it
difficult because they're saying nasty things? Is it difficult because
now you have to fear that someone else is going
to hear it and they're gonna go, Ah, I don't

(51:15):
like that. I'm gonna cause it problems.

Speaker 4 (51:17):
All the above. It gets awkward at times because like
I'll be on a date and then it's it's a
little it's really awkward if somebody comes up to your
table and I I've never met a lot of the people,
and I'm thankful for everybody's support. But one of the

(51:38):
things somebody told me is they know who you are,
but you don't know who then they are. Ye, so
you're gonna have to get used to it and like, yeah,
like they know your story, they know your background. You
may know nothing about them well.

Speaker 2 (51:51):
And typically you don't yeah, yeah, no, it's you may
not want to answer this, but I'm gonna ask it
since they did ask him why he fired Lynn, would
I'm not going to kind of got that Donald Trump
reached out tell me about that.

Speaker 4 (52:06):
Yeah, Donald Trump invited me to mar a Lago.

Speaker 2 (52:08):
He may was that the time, you know, you do
before oh you're a oh look at you, mister hotshot.
You've been multiple times. How did that call come in?
Did he make the call himself? I was in Florida.

Speaker 4 (52:19):
It was right after my quado. Donald Trump was like, yeah,
Kyle's in Florida, bring him over to mar Lago. I
don't directly, I don't exactly remember how it came about,
but somebody was like, you want to meet Trump? And
I was like, yes, yep, and and he.

Speaker 2 (52:33):
Was publicly supportive of you. I mean, look, I don't
tell you anything you don't already know. But nobody is
saying grab a gun and go run into a crowd
on any given day. But the situation was whether someone
agrees you should have been there or not. At that moment,
you either protect yourself or you die. And anyone else,

(52:54):
if put in that situation, would necessarily make that decision
or not survive the moment, and so anyone that's really
what people and the fact that you were you were
so unfairly attacked. I think that's it's the idea that
we better get behind this guy, imperfect or not, because
it could happen to anyone. With Kyle Rittenhouse coming up
with Michael Barry Show, I know, I like, say, Kyle

(53:19):
Rittenhouse is our guest in studio and he's picking the
Bump songs and it turns out that he is a
big Elvis fan. Where do you get that from your mom?

Speaker 4 (53:30):
I don't know. I just like I like how he sings.
I like the classical music part.

Speaker 2 (53:34):
You talked to your mom much on occasion. How often
does this come up in y'all's conversations?

Speaker 1 (53:44):
What happened that day.

Speaker 4 (53:47):
Depends a couple of times a week, once a week.
It depends on what's going on. I don't know.

Speaker 2 (53:54):
Is it more an update of what's happened since and
what's going on in relation to them? How much of
your day today is still driven I mean, you've been
named in civil lawsuits. How much of your day to
day is still driven by those few seconds?

Speaker 4 (54:08):
A majority A majority of my day.

Speaker 2 (54:11):
Is how much of When you're watching a television show
and you see a scene that might be in some
odd way related, whether it's shootings or whatever else, do
you go, that's not what it's like.

Speaker 4 (54:25):
Not much on that.

Speaker 2 (54:27):
Are you offered business opportunities, a gun in your name,
speaking opportunities, books, appearances. I have to think that people
would want I mean, look, we were fast. We haven't
been this excited to talk to anyone in a long time.
Not because you're famous. We talk to famous people all
day every day. But it's interesting to see how it

(54:49):
changes you and what you learn. And I have a
big theory that I find people to be far more
interesting after they've been knocked down. You know, somebody that's
had nothing but success. I want to see you fail.
I want to see you put under stress. I want
to see the world turned upside down and you want
to kill yourself and you come out of that. Now
you're interesting to me. Now what did you learn from

(55:10):
that moment? And so that's why I wanted to talk
to you.

Speaker 4 (55:14):
Yeah, Well I've been offered a speech speaking engagement. I
actually recently spoke to the Second Amendment Caucus and Washington
d C. I gave them a speech and hold you
write it yourself?

Speaker 2 (55:26):
How do you you haven't done this before? You're just nineteen,
your high school dropout as a freshman, you know, and
here I am speaking? Had you? Did you know how
to structure a speech?

Speaker 4 (55:35):
I honestly had no idea, just wing it. I didn't
wing it. My girlfriend is really smart with that, and
she actually helped me write it.

Speaker 2 (55:43):
Really, she helped me. Okay, all right, so.

Speaker 4 (55:47):
I'm going to give her a little bit of credit
on them.

Speaker 2 (55:49):
Okay, how long was this speech?

Speaker 4 (55:50):
It was about a fifteen minute speech?

Speaker 2 (55:52):
And how did you do?

Speaker 4 (55:53):
I missed a page at the end, okay, But other
than that, I did really well. I think they said
I did good? Right, I feel like I did poor
because I missed a page?

Speaker 2 (56:04):
Uh huh? And then did they take photos with you afterwards?
They did? Have you perfected? Which is your better side?
And how to smile by looking at photos that you're
in after a while, because most people do that?

Speaker 4 (56:15):
Do I have a good side?

Speaker 2 (56:17):
Everybody does? I let me tell you something. Beyonce knows
which side she looks better on, and she'll make sure
you're on that side. Yeah, I'm serious. I mean, Trump
knows which side he's better, especially because he's got his
his hairs comb to the side. Yep. Tell me about
the meeting with Trump. You went to Borlago.

Speaker 4 (56:33):
Yeah, it was really fun. He gave me some advice,
he said, don't let the media get me down, and
we just talked. I just told him my story and
he was just and wow. He was like, he was like,
I can't believe they did that to you. And he
apologized for what they put me through. And then we
had food. We had I had a burger and fries

(56:54):
U U and I.

Speaker 2 (56:56):
It was such a seventeen year old thing to do
when you're sitting with the president, and it was it was.

Speaker 4 (57:02):
It was an experience. And you know, mar A Lago
is so beautiful. The Rose Garden we had to walk
through to get to the movie premiere.

Speaker 2 (57:08):
Yep, it was it was really Did you go in
the disco and you see the disco, Yeah, where you
went for the movie premiere. On the backside of that
is is he has his own disco, and so you
go downstairs. You know when you're out at the pool.
When you walk out of the of the restaurant, there's
the pool right there to the left, there's glass and
that's the disco all over there. It's glory. I didn't

(57:30):
know that.

Speaker 1 (57:30):
Yeah, and he loves it.

Speaker 2 (57:31):
He shows up there. He shows up there on occasion.
I brought a group with Buck Saxton, who's a talk
show host, and Carol Markowitz who's a great writer, and gosh,
what's Josh's last name? I can't believe I'm forgetting his
name right. He's the editor for Newsweek. I'm gonna remember
it as soon as we stopped talking about it. But anyway,
we did an event there and he invited our whole
group afterwards to go back to the disco, which was

(57:53):
pretty cool.

Speaker 4 (57:54):
Yeah, that's awesome.

Speaker 2 (57:55):
It's a cool property. Who else, who else reached out
to you? We got to make this Arlacker. We mostly
have to make the Urlacker connection happen because I want
to meet Urlacker. Yeah, the guy.

Speaker 3 (58:07):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (58:08):
I don't know if he reached out, but he There's
a lot of people on Twitter, a lot of very
cool people on Twitter, like who I forget his name?
He played? He played in the movie Soul Surfer.

Speaker 2 (58:19):
Do you know Ramon Skyler is gonna know? Okay?

Speaker 4 (58:25):
Marjorie Taylor Green?

Speaker 2 (58:26):
Oh yeah, I love him.

Speaker 4 (58:27):
Marjorie Taylor Green. She's been very supportive.

Speaker 2 (58:31):
You wouldn't want to fight her.

Speaker 3 (58:32):
No.

Speaker 2 (58:33):
Have you ever seen her cross training workouts? No?

Speaker 3 (58:35):
I have it.

Speaker 2 (58:36):
They're intense. You know, my doctor told me that the
emergency room visits by cross training workout folks are high
because of the crazy workouts they do. If you see
her workouts, they are intense. And that woman she can out,
she can out bench press you and me too, and ramon,
that is one tough chick for sure. Who else expressed.

Speaker 4 (58:57):
Support publicly that you recall, Laura Overt, Congressman Massey. A
lot of a lot of amazing politicians out there that
are fighting for.

Speaker 2 (59:07):
Their politicians, I would expect because there are votes to gain.
I'm I'm and this is I'm not saying they shouldn't,
but I am more impressed by movie stars and things
like that because in their little circle, you know, you
can't do that. When Michelle Obama chose to say such
nasty things about you that, as you've said earlier, are

(59:30):
not true, how'd you feel about that?

Speaker 4 (59:33):
I was really upset. And then when Joe Biden, our president,
said those inflammatory things about me, using me in his
campaign ad, calling me out white nationalists. Was it was
really upsetting knowing that somebody could stoop that load to
use a seventeen year old as the front page of

(59:54):
their political ad to get votes.

Speaker 2 (59:59):
Well, and that it's not true. Is what is so
bothersome that you can literally say anything about someone as
long as it's the same. They could have claimed you
were a Russian agent. They could have claimed you were
a polluter. They of course said you were a racist.
They could have claimed you were transphobic, homophobic, islamophobic. It's

(01:00:21):
it's as if there is a ready made audience that
they are shoveling this sahi, that they're shoveling this too,
and they're ready to lap it up. And they don't care.
They don't ask questions, they don't they don't want to know,
They don't want to research and find out. Is Kyle
Rittenhouse a good guy, a bad guy, a little of both,
some of neither. Ritten how's our guest in studio for

(01:00:42):
our last time? We're coming up to.

Speaker 1 (01:00:49):
Lucky You. The Michael Berry Show continues Lucky Day.

Speaker 2 (01:00:55):
Yes it is in fact The Michael Berry Show, and
yes we are playing a justin Christmas song. It's a
different kind of day. What can I say? Kyle Rittenhouse
is in studio and he's picking the bumps. Although this
one he tossed to his girlfriend Skyler and said, Skyler,
pick a Christmas I mean pick a bump song. She said,

(01:01:17):
a Justin Bieber Christmas song, and Ramona and I protested,
but Ramona has kind of I'm not allowed to tell
you all this because he's embarrassed. But Ramona said, I
actually kind of halfway like this song. Wow, it's a
different day, it's a different time. You know. If I
were making fun of private school white kids like at
the mall, I would say, Okay, Kyle, all right, skylery'

(01:01:43):
one of the last two people that I would ever
expect to be sitting here having been through all the
stuff you go through. Although Skyler signed up for this,
she wasn't your girlfriend at the time. You're nineteen, she's eighteen.
How'd you meet her?

Speaker 4 (01:01:56):
It's a walk story. She makes conservative stuff on Instagram
and TikTok, so I decided to add her on Snapchat
and we started talking and we agreed on a lot
of things. We were both pro life and Christian and
believe in the Second Amendment, and we just clicked and
I actually invited her to mar A Lago and I
think you met her there. I think she took our picture.

Speaker 2 (01:02:15):
Yeah, she took our picture with Laura Logan's boobs. No, seriously,
like Laura Logan's boob that that picture went very, very
very viral. Yeah, you're in the background, Yes they are.
They are ample bosoms, shall we say? And Skyler. I
did not know Skyler took that picture. I thought we
took that picture. I'm not sure how that ended up

(01:02:36):
in our system because we get emails and people sending
us stuff all the time. But it turns out your
your girlfriend took the picture, and there you go. Jimmy
asks Zar ask mister Rittenhouse, what are your goals for
the next chapter in your life? What are your goals?
Give me, give me a short term goal.

Speaker 4 (01:02:56):
I really want to I want to do some speaking agents.
I want to tell my story right, and I want
to speak to like I want to get really really
good at speaking to an audience, and maybe started a
podcast and maybe in the future write a book. And
there are some of my short term girls goals. And
finish my private pilot license.

Speaker 2 (01:03:16):
That's important. That's important. Do people ask you for advice
in areas that you have no expertise, and go, why
are you asking me this?

Speaker 4 (01:03:25):
Sometimes? I'm I'm nineteen, and I don't think I can
really offer anybody holder than me any advice because I
still have like I have. Like I'm nineteen, I'm young,
I'm still learning. I don't know half the stuff that
people older than me know.

Speaker 2 (01:03:46):
So do you feel like in some ways you missed
out on a couple of years of your life?

Speaker 4 (01:03:50):
Oh? Absolutely, I believe my childhood was robbed for me.
I believe I won't have experiences that other people my
age will.

Speaker 2 (01:03:59):
Do you think it made you cynical? No?

Speaker 4 (01:04:06):
No, I mean I think these are This is what
God gave me. This is the life God had planned
out for me, and I just have to live it
to the best the best I can, and I'm doing
my best to live a great life.

Speaker 2 (01:04:19):
I had heard somewhere, and as I said, I did
not go back and research you. I didn't want to.
I wanted this to all be fresh. Kyle Rittenhouse is
our guest in studio with Skyler, his girlfriend. But as
I understood it, you were not exactly some right wing
conservative before that day. Where were you? What positions had

(01:04:41):
you taken, if any as a seventeen year.

Speaker 4 (01:04:42):
Old, I didn't really take a position. I liked Trump,
but at the time I didn't care, if that makes sense.

Speaker 2 (01:04:51):
But I remember at the time there was like, you know,
he was a Black Lives Matter guy, or he was
a something he was I can't remember whatever it was.
It was. You're making this guy out to be a
off hitler and he's closer to being you know, aclu.
I just remember there was some had you been a
part of some organization or you'd spoken you weren't exactly
conservative listen, but very few seventeen year olds are.

Speaker 4 (01:05:13):
I well, I was conservative. I conservative vise. I believe
in the Second Amendment. I believe free speech. But I
think what you're saying about the Black Lives matter, I
believe in black lives mattering. I believe everybody has the
right to protest and demonstrate demonstrate peacefully. And that's where
I think you're bringing that in from a Tucker Carlson interview.

Speaker 2 (01:05:30):
Okay, how was that? That was great?

Speaker 4 (01:05:34):
I really like Tucker. Tucker is very supportive and he's
given me a lot of great advice.

Speaker 2 (01:05:40):
Yeah. The thing I like about Tucker is he really
doesn't care who likes or doesn't like his opinion. He
gives thought to things and then he expresses himself. And
I think he expresses himself very well at what he does.
And he's not afraid to take up a position even
today that even if a majority of his audience may
not like it, he is willing to speak out on

(01:06:02):
things and to take up your case when I think
a lot of folks wouldn't. And I admire him for that.

Speaker 4 (01:06:09):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And the other thing is I've learned
to be that's trusting in people, Like I learned people
aren't very trustworthy and that I have to really watch
who I associate with, watch people I surround myself around
because I don't know what alterior motive they may have.
Like I've been screwed over by a lot of people

(01:06:31):
and I'm just starting to get my life on track
and figure things out, and I've learned to not be
as trusting.

Speaker 2 (01:06:39):
Fame, celebrity, notoriety, infamy, whatever you want to call it,
it creates. It creates something that for a very young man,
and this being very new to you, can leave you
feeling a little cheated afterwards, because people do they want
something out of you. We wanted you, We wanted you
to come here and tell your story because we and

(01:07:02):
our audience want to hear it. Everybody needs something from
you now, and you have something to give them. And
you know what I think, just getting to know you
a little better, is that when you have nothing to
give that people want right now, which is tell your
story that will and no one wants to know it anymore,
that's when you'll achieve pure peace because that'll be the

(01:07:25):
moment that you can move on and talk about other things.
Because at some point, Kyle Rittenhouse is bigger than a
couple of minutes in Kenosha, Right At some point, Kyle
Rittenhouse the pilot, or Kyle Rittenhouse the guy who likes
to protect people, or Kyle Rittenhouse the fan of Elvis,
those aspects of your life have to come out and

(01:07:45):
become what your life is. But for now, you know,
you've got lawsuits and fame and people with questions and
a story that needs to be told. And that's, you know,
for the foreseeable future, that's still going to be a
big part of what you have to do. Take one minute,
and you wanted to make sure that you thanked the
people who've supported you all along. This has been a

(01:08:07):
whole lot of fun. It's been very enlightening, very interesting.
I leave this with a very high regard for the
young man you have been in r But more importantly,
I think you have a huge, huge future ahead of
you and whatever you do. But you wanted to make
sure that you closed with the thanks to those that
have supporting you, So I'll give you a minute to death.

Speaker 4 (01:08:25):
Absolutely, thank you everybody for your support, your prayers, your letters,
defending me on social media to other people. I know
those Twitter arguments can get rough sometimes, donating and just
helping me, like defending me when I can't defend myself,
especially during the trial, like defending my public image. And

(01:08:48):
thank you to the Independent journalist. Thank you to you
for having me on, and thank you to the people
who are willing to listen and listen to my story
for what it's told, and the people who are currently
helping me fight this civil lawsuit. Gives sang Goo www
dot gives sang Goo Ford slash Kyle Rittenhouse, the people

(01:09:09):
who donated there, you can leave a prayer up there,
and I get really inspired every time I read those messages.
I go through all of them.

Speaker 2 (01:09:16):
I read the prayers. Kyle Rittenhouse. Thank you. If you
like the Michael Berry Show in podcast, please tell one friend,
and if you're so inclined, write a nice review of
our podcast. Comments, suggestions, questions, and interest in being a
corporate sponsor and partner can be communicated directly to the

(01:09:37):
show at our email address, Michael at Michael Berryshow dot com,
or simply by clicking on our website, Michael Berryshow dot com.
The Michael Berry Show and Podcast is produced by Ramon Roebliss,
The King of Ding. Executive producer is Chad Nakanishi. Jim

(01:10:02):
Mudd is the creative director. Voices Jingles, Tomfoolery and Shenanigans
are provided by Chance McLean. Director of Research is Sandy Peterson.
Emily Bull is our assistant listener and superfan. Contributions are
appreciated and often incorporated into our production. Where possible, we

(01:10:26):
give credit, where not, we take all the credit for ourselves.
God bless the memory of Rush Limbaugh. Long live Elvis,
be a simple man like Leonard Skinnard told you, and
God bless America. Finally, if you know a veteran suffering
from PTSD. Call Camp Hope at eight seven seven seven

(01:10:50):
one seven PTSD and a combat veteran will answer the
phone to provide free counseling. Three