Texas Cop's Selfie With Kyle Rittenhouse Sparks Heated Debate

The comments on a Texas police department's Facebook photo got quite heated thanks to the subject of the photo: Kyle Rittenhouse. The Thrall Police Department posted a selfie showing an unnamed police officer posing with Rittenhouse, the now-19-year-old who was acquitted in the fatal shootings of two protesters in Kenosha, Wis., (as well as the non-fatal shooting of a third) when he was 17. "Make those stops, you never know who you might meet. Today it was Kyle Rittenhouse, welcome to Texas," the post read initially. Then the comments started rolling in; as of this posting, there are nearly 2,000.

The San Antonio Current reports that many of them express outrage at Rittenhouse being glorified as a "hero." Some, however, did express support for the teen, Fox News reports, and the photo has thousands of "like" and "love" reactions. "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," the photo caption was edited to read after the backlash ensued. "Is this not how our country works anymore? The hate in these comments is terrible, if you have information that is contrary to that I would honestly love to hear it." Rittenhouse is said to be going to school at Blinn College, a Texas public junior college, with the intention of someday transferring to Texas A&M University. (More Kyle Rittenhouse stories.)