Commentary: Virginia Cop ‘Relieved of Duty’ After Donating To Kyle Rittenhouse Defense Fund

A high-ranking police officer in Virginia was fired after his anonymous $25 donation to Kyle Rittenhouse’s legal defense fund was revealed following a suspicious data breach at GiveSendGo, a Christian crowdfunding website.

On Tuesday, Norfolk City Manager Chip Filer announced that he had fired Lt. William Kelly on the recommendation of the city’s police chief.

“I have reviewed the results of the internal investigation involving Lt. William Kelly. Chief Larry Boone and I have concluded Lt. Kelly’s actions are in violation of City and departmental policies,” Filer said in a statement.

“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.”

The “egregious comments” were benign remarks Kelly had attached to his online donation, where he said: “God bless. Thank you for your courage. Keep your head up. You’ve done nothing wrong,” according to WAVY-TV.

Kelly added that numerous other cops supported Rittenhouse because they believed he acted in self-defense and was being smeared by Democratic politicians and their media puppets to push their anti-gun agenda.

“Every rank and file police officer supports you,” the note read. “Don’t be discouraged by actions of the political class of 🚓Law Enforcement leadership.”

Rittenhouse, 18, is awaiting trial on murder charges related to the shooting deaths of two left-wing protesters and the wounding of a third on Aug. 25 in Kenosha, Wisconsin.

His attorneys contend that he acted in self-defense when Anthony Huber, Joseph Rosenbaum and Gaige Grosskreutz charged him at the anti-police Black Lives Matter riots that ravaged Kenosha.

Huber and Rosenbaum later died of gunshot wounds.

In a farcical irony, Grosskreutz demanded $10 million from the city of Kenosha, claiming its police department failed to protect him during the BLM riots — which sought to defund the police.

Rittenhouse has been disingenuously vilified by the left as a “white supremacist” who wanted to mete out vigilante justice — even though all three of his alleged victims were white.

In contrast, many on the right have hailed him as a champion of the Second Amendment right to bear arms in self-defense.

Like many other Americans, Kelly donated money to a legal defense fund for Rittenhouse in September. At the time, the 18-year veteran of the Norfolk Police Department was the executive officer of internal affairs.

He donated $25 anonymously through GiveSendGo.

Kelly’s name was identified among a long list of police officers and public officials who had used their official email addresses to donate to Rittenhouse following a data breach.

The donors’ names were made public in an April 16 article by The Guardian.

Shortly afterward, a Utah reporter hunted down and confronted a local paramedic who had donated $10 to Rittenhouse’s legal fund.

No matter what your opinion is of the Rittenhouse case, it should alarm all Americans that making an anonymous donation to a person the left doesn’t like could result in your getting fired, doxed or harassed on live TV.

This left-wing bullying has escalated dramatically over the past five years and will get worse unless Republicans and conservatives fight back against this mob harassment and make the left live up to its own rules.

Liberals do not follow the same rules that they aggressively impose on the right, and the right foolishly lets them get away with this double standard.

Where’s the liberal outrage that Vice President Kamala Harris — whose ancestors were slave owners — supported a fund that bailed out Black Lives Matter rioters?

Earlier this week, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi refused to condemn fellow California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters for inciting violence when she urged BLM activists to take to the streets and “get more confrontational” if Derek Chauvin weren’t convicted in the death of George Floyd.

Would a Republican congressman escape unscathed after making such a remark?

The left-wing threats, emotional blackmail, doxing and riots will continue until the right holds the left to its own rules. Otherwise, be prepared for the mob bullying to get even worse.

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.