City fires officer over Rittenhouse donation

NORFOLK, Va. — The Virginia city of Norfolk has fired a police lieutenant after news reports that said he donated to and expressed support for Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager accused of killing two people during a police brutality protest in Wisconsin last summer.

City officials announced Tuesday that police Lt. William Kelly had been “relieved of duty” after an internal investigation.

“His egregious comments erode the trust between the Norfolk Police Department and those they are sworn to serve. The City of Norfolk has a standard of behavior for all employees, and we will hold staff accountable,” City Manager Chip Filer said in a statement.

The development came after news organizations including The Virginian-Pilot reported that they had obtained data from a Christian crowdfunding website that was hacked, apparently showing an initially anonymous $25 donation to Rittenhouse’s legal defense fund was linked to Kelly’s work email address.

According to the newspaper, the donation carried the comment: “God bless. Thank you for your courage. Keep your head up. You’ve done nothing wrong.”