Several student organizations were joined by Paul Prediger during the Ohio Student Association press conference on April 16 to voice their concerns over Kyle Rittenhouse’s presence on campus. Prediger, formerly known as Gaige Grosskreutz, was one of the three men shot by Rittenhouse during the Kenosha, Wis., protests. He was the only one to survive.

Aciano Rosales, a freshman environmental conservation major and freshman ambassador for Spanish and Latine Student Association (SALSA), gave the opening remarks in which he said Rittenhouse’s presence mocks the university’s legacy of protests.

“Kyle Rittenhouse’s presence as a guest speaker mocks the legacy of bloodshed protesters on Kent State’s campus,” Rosales said. “It optimizes hateful white supremacism that we as Ohio students feel is unacceptable.”

With the conclusion of the opening remarks, Prediger began his testimonial where he said since the shooting in Kenosha, he has chosen to remain silent.

“Preferring my anonymity and safety from revisiting a traumatic period of my life but that silence ends today,” Prediger said.

He said Rittenhouse has done the opposite by being embraced by individuals who believe in hateful rhetoric and seek to incite violence against political, cultural and religious differences.

“I am not here today at Kent State to sell you a book that somebody else wrote, or a full-body military kit that I didn’t design, or a subscription to an anti-woke payment processor,” Prediger said. “That speaker is across campus today and his name is Kyle Rittenhouse.”

Prediger said he chose to stand with the university students today who have had enough of Rittenhouse’s rhetoric and flawed logic.

“Enough of the lies and the deceit that has been told by Kyle Rittenhouse for three years about what actually happened in Kenosha August 25, 2022,” he said.

Aimée Flores, a senior psychology major and president of SALSA, gave the next testimony in which she said SALSA felt the need to speak out because of the disrespect they face.

“SALSA is often considered the point for when Hispanic Heritage Month comes around or when someone needs us for a school project,” Flores said.

Since SALSA represents a number of students, Flores said the organization will never be silenced.

“I don’t want to pass the baton of leadership… of latino groups as a martyr. I want to share my legacy for the living,” she said.

Flores said Turning Point USA was not the problem but rather bigotry and an example of such bigotry would be the events of May 4.

“That is why Gov. James A. Rhodes was able to send the national guard to Kent State 54 years ago on that hill,” she said. “That is why today we ask ourselves who will defend us?”

Following the press conference, a learn-in was conducted in Oscar Ritchie Hall, which Prediger said he hoped individuals will attend after the press conference.

“I ask all of those you who are interested to join me, these student organizers behind me and in this crowd, to come to the Oscar Ritchie Hall for hopefully an enlightening teach-in experience,” he said. “[Because] students deserve an alternative to the hate and division that Kyle Rittenhouse seeks to sew on campus.”

Adriana Gasiewski is a beat reporter. Contact her at [email protected].