Kyle Rittenhouse in a blue suit. Right: Two plates of food and a glass of beer from Southern Star Brewery Company.
A Texas brewery recently canceled an event that would have featured Kyle Rittenhouse, the 20-year-old who was found not guilty of murder charges after he shot three men during the 2020 protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
The business said it wasn't in line with its values and has since received a swarm of threats.
Southern Star Brewing Company in Conroe, Texas, was set to host a "Rally Against Censorship" speaking assembly on January 26. Other "censored" speakers on the roster include the founder of the "TEXIT" movement as well as journalists, authors and attorneys.
There was also a $275 opportunity to meet Rittenhouse.
Less than two weeks before the event, however, the South Texas brewery announced on social media that they are an "apolitical organization" that would no longer be the venue for the rally.
Since then, owner Dave Fougeron told the Texas Tribune that the business has received backlash he equates to a "sh**storm."
Comments on their social media post have been turned off, though people used a recent publication that promoted a separate event as a message board in support of the decision.
The comment section on the Brewery's Facebook post.Southern Star Brewing Company | Facebook
However, when you look at who has shared the post, you can see those opposed to the establishment's decision.
"Hopefully if there is a robbery there, the Conroe Police Department looks the other way," one user wrote.
Others are calling out Southern Star for choosing to stay out of politics.
"They canceled Kyle Rittenhouse and now won't let people comment about their action on any social media," another person shared. "They chose being 'apolitical' over free speech."
Even Rittenhouse himself called out the restaurant in a tweet for censoring him and bending to a "woke crowd."
"It’s really disappointing to see that places continue to censor me and not allow my voice and many other voices to be heard because they bend to the woke crowd. I’ll keep you guys updated on the event on the 26th that I was supposed to speak at," the tweet reads.
In his interview with the Texas Tribune, Fougeron denied the claims that "woke" figures, like H-E-B distributors, told him to cancel the event, explaining that it was due to concerns locals had raised.
The location has since been changed to the Lone Star Convention Center.