Kyle Rittenhouse wore a shirt with a coffee company’s name on it. Now its Jewish owner is being harassed by antisemites.
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By David Ian Klein November 25, 2020
Antisemites are attacking the Jewish owners of Black Rifle Coffee Co. online after they publicly distanced themselves from 17-year-old Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse, who was pictured wearing their merchandise in a now-deleted tweet by a reporter from the right-wing news outlet Blaze Media, Elijah Schaefer.
The tweet displayed a photo of Rittenhouse with the caption “Kyle Rittenhouse drinks the best coffee in America” and a promotional code to Black Rifle Coffee.
.@blckriflecoffee do you sponsor Kyle Rittenhouse? pic.twitter.com/BANNyEUiiY
— Sleeping Giants (@slpng_giants) November 21, 2020
After the tweet, Black Rifle Coffee Co. quickly came under fire from Twitter users on the left who thought that the company had sponsored Rittenhouse.
So Black Rifle Coffee are Nazi and murder sympathizers? Who could have guessed that a coffee company named after a gun would be so extreme? https://t.co/lrIQiUNUHg
— B.S.Hollee (@BS_Hollen) November 21, 2020
The veteran owned and operated coffee maker has been endorsed by Donald Trump Jr. and markets itself as an openly pro-second amendment and pro-law enforcement company. It offers a special “thin blue line” series roast and has named many of its other products after weapons. The company also runs a lifestyle site that features content on the intersection of coffee, the military and veterans affairs.
However, though the company does have a marketing contract with Blaze Media, it clarified that it did not approve of the tweet, has no relationship with Rittenhouse and asked that the tweet be removed.
Untrue.
We did not sponsor nor do we have a relationship with the 17-year-old facing charges in Kenosha, WI.https://t.co/gNfWaOUqoT
— Black Rifle Coffee (@blckriflecoffee) November 21, 2020
“We’re not in the business of profiting from tragedy, we’re not in the business of profiting from this event. We have zero interest in collecting one dollar from this. It is ethically inappropriate and for us to do so or even give the perception,” said Black Rifle Coffee Co. founder and CEO Evan Hafer in a video, though he added that the company supports gun rights.
Following their clarifications, Black Rifle Coffee Co. received a counter reaction from far-right Twitter users, many of which highlighted Hafer’s Jewish Identity.
Ask Evan the Jewish founder/owner of Black Rifle Coffee Company to denounce Antifa….here’s why we won’t. pic.twitter.com/yexdm1fyda
— DiversityVictim ?????? (@DiversityVictim) November 23, 2020
Also you’d have to be a jew ( black rifle coffee guy)
— Franklin (@anarchobaptist_) November 20, 2020
The founders of that company are jews. Everything you need to know is in the previous sentence
— Berkut (@Berkut1389) November 22, 2020
A lot of people are battling online over @blckriflecoffee and whether or not they actually support Kyle Rittenhouse. People on both sides are protesting the coffee company over this issue.
I’m protesting them because I found out the owner is a Jew. It’s that simple.
— Milliardo Peacecraft (@MilliardoPCraft) November 23, 2020
“I thought that the Right would say ‘Oh dude, we get that, ok, cool,” Hafer later said in a phone appearance on Dana Loesch’s program on Blaze TV. “I was fundamentally mistaken, very mistaken.”
During his appearance on Loesch’s show, Hafer ultimately said that from his knowledge of the events in Kenosha, he believes Rittenhouse to be innocent.
Rittenhouse was released from jail on November 20 on a $2 million bail that was raised by his supporters as he awaits trial for the murders of Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber. Rittenhouse shot and killed the two men after he crossed state lines with an AR-15 rifle, claiming that he was going to protect local businesses from rioting protesters during Black Lives Matter protests after the police shooting of Jacob Blake.
Rittenhouse’s attorney contends that he opened fire on Rosenbaum and Huber in self defense.
Nov. 26 4:11 p.m. A previous version of this article stated that Kyle Rittenhouse wanted to protect local businesses from violent protests after the police killing of Jacob Blake. Blake was wounded by police, but not killed.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
