Texas police department defends Kyle Rittenhouse selfie amid online backlash: 'Not how our country works'

The small-town police department in Texas refused to apologize for taking a selfies with Kyle Rittenhouse, even though he was acquitted by a jury of his peers in the shooting of three demonstrators in Wisconsin.

You never know who you'll meet. The Thrall Police Department, which serves the city outside of Austin, shared a picture of an officer smiling with Rittenhouse.

There were more than 1,700 comments, 1,500 shares and 10,000 likes on the post.

After receiving a lot of negative comments on the post, the police department wrote, "I must have missed something, I believed that this young man was arrested, charged, indicted and then found not guilty by a jury of his peers"

Kye Rittenhouse is an attorney who is representing a murder suspect on a self-defense claim.

Is this the way our country works now? Police said so. If you have information that is contrary to what's being said, I would love to hear it.

Rittenhouse was 17 and living in Illinois when he answered calls online to defend businesses during rioting unfolding in nearby Kenosha, Wisconsin, in August 2021, in response to the police shooting of a 29-year-old Black man.

Two people were killed when Rittenhouse opened fire.

Rittenhouse testified that he fired in self-defense, and his legal team showed video of protesters attacking him before he fired. Despite being vilified by the media as a white supremacist, Rittenhouse was acquitted by a jury on all charges stemming from the shooting during racial justice protests.

He's being made out to be a hero. The photo of the officer smiling was shared by the Thrall Police Department of Rittenhouse.

Joshua Davis, whose profile says he attended Lake Erie College, commented that both can kill people without repercussions.

Several other comments criticized the post as a "disgrace," questioning if Rittenhouse was stopped for a traffic violation and ripped the selfies as a waste of taxpayer dollars.

Is this a real thing? Are you welcoming a murderer into our state? Phoenix Woods is from Plano, Texas This is repulsive.

Some users defended Rittenhouse in the comments.

Have a great year at school, Kyle!" Ignore the people who don't like you. If it bit them on the back, they wouldn't know bravery.

The now 19-year-old from Illinois is attending a public junior college in Texas with the hope of eventually transferring to Texas A&M University. Rittenhouse said last year that he wouldn't be going to Arizona State University because of protests and an online petition.