Kyle Rittenhouse was greeted like a rockstar this week when he spoke at a conservative convention in Phoenix.
The 18-year-old donned a blue suit and tie for his appearance at AmericaFest, a four-day festival hosted by Turning Point USA, New York Post reports.
Rittenhouse delivered a speech to the audience - made up largely of high school and college-age students - about his recent acquittal on murder charges.
Rittenhouse walked out to a standing ovation as he joined a panel of conservative commentators Jack Posobiec, Elijah Schaffer, Drew Hernandez, and Charlie Kilk.
Host's introduced Rittenhouse as "a hero to millions," and prompted more cheers by asking if any women in the crowd wanted to go on a date with him, The Guardian reports.
Last summer, Rittenhouse shot and killed Joseph Rosenbaum, 36 and Anthony Huber, 26, as well as wounding 27-year-old Gaige Grosskreutz.
During his lengthy two-week trial, defense attorneys argued that the teenager had acted in self-defense, while prosecutors alleged he instigated violence by bringing a rifle to protests.
On stage, Rittenhouse commented on his trial, saying: "I think my trial was an example of them trying to come after our second amendment right to defend ourselves, in trying to take weapons."
He went on to reflect on how it had changed him as a person.
"It's helped me grow a lot, it’s helped me mature," he said. "I believe God's been with me every day of the trial, every day since August 25… I pray to him every single night… I pray for strength to get through whatever happens to me."
Rittenhouse also spoke about how he had coped with the stresses of the trial, recalling how he would decompress after "really long days" by playing video games like Call of Duty.
As for the controversial decision to put Rittenhouse on the witness stand - where he broke down in tears relaying the events of the shooting - the teenager said he had wanted to set the record straight with his own words.
"I wanted to tell the world what happened in Kenosha, the truth, unlike what the prosecution tried to do, and that’s why I took the stand," he told audiences.
Looking to the future, Rittenhouse suggested that he may be suing media outlets for their misrepresentation of the events surrounding the shooting. He added that until then he was looking forwards to "getting on the mountain to go snowboarding."
