FLORENCE, Ky — A controversial conservative fundraiser for Republican District 66 candidate TJ Roberts will go on as scheduled at a different venue after the campaign said threats forced the Metropolitan Club to cancel their original plans.
Kyle Rittenhouse, who catapulted to the national spotlight after shooting and killing two men in Wisconsin during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests, was announced as a speaker at the fundraiser, leading to online backlash.
Guy Cummins, the owner of Smokin' This and That BBQ in Florence, said Roberts approached him about hosting the event after the original location backed out. Within 24 hours of him agreeing to lease the shop, he said he's received threats.
"I got people calling the restaurant, threatening my employees," he said.
Cummins said he wasn't concerned about Rittenhouse's attendance as he was found not guilty of all charges related to the shooting in 2022.
"All I know is the kid is not guilty because he went through a trial of his peers, and he was found innocent," Cummins said.
At the end of the day, Cummins said he didn't particularly care about any of the politics involved.
"I got no dog in the fight," he said. "I care about making money here. I welcome any Democrat to come in here, hold a fundraiser, have a good time."
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the Roberts campaign said they were forced to move the fundraiser after the Metropolitan Club "succumbed to pressure and bent the knee to far left activists and violent extremists, who instigated threats against Kyle Rittenhouse, me, my supporters, and my team."
In a statement, the Metropolitan Club did not point to threats as the reason the event had been moved.
"A Metropolitan member scheduled a political fundraiser with us in late September for Oct. 8. We scheduled the event as we would for any political fundraiser, but when a speaker was announced who may not align with the unity mission of the club, the event was moved," the statement read.
WCPO reached out to Covington police to see if any threats had been reported to them.
The department said they had not been made aware of any threats directed toward Rittenhouse, the campaign or the Metropolitan Club, and, as of WCPO reaching out Friday, the department had not been told the venue was changing despite Covington police planning a security detail at the Metropolitan Club.
The Roberts campaign called the Metropolitan Club's statement "a misrepresentation of facts" and shared a screenshot of an email a club representative sent to the campaign.
In it, the club representative asked about the potential need for extra security and wrote: “This event fits our mission of being inclusive of all ideas, creeds, etc., so I welcome it.”
The campaign also shared a screenshot of an X user's post insinuating a mass shooting could happen as an example of threats they'd received.
Cummins said he simply wouldn't tolerate further threats at his establishment.
"I just don't play," he said. "I'm here to make money and the last thing I'm going to do is have some kid with a blocked number call the restaurant and tell me what I can and cannot do."
He added that he wasn't planning to have additional security at Wednesday's fundraiser and he welcomed opposing views to hear speakers, but he would not have violence at the restaurant.
"I'll throw your butt out right as rain," he said.
The Roberts campaign said they were coordinating an increased police presence at the event.
The Kentucky Democratic Party issued a statement about Rittenhouses's attendance at the fundraiser:
TJ Roberts’ latest fundraiser with right-wing poster boy Kyle Rittenhouse is yet another reminder to voters that he’s an extremist with a disturbing view of the world that doesn’t belong in the General Assembly. Whether it’s spewing [splcenter.org] antisemitism, making light [linknky.com] of school shootings hours after the tragedy in Uvalde, or disparaging [web.archive.org] Martin Luther King, Jr., Roberts has shown all of us that he’s unfit for office.
Kentuckians deserve leaders who will address the real issues that matter most — like good-paying jobs and health care — instead of using their platforms to stoke fear.
