Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager involved in a high-profile court hearing following the shooting of three men during a Black Lives Matter protest in the US, has reacted to NBA star LeBron James claiming he cried crocodile tears.
The 18-year-old earned a homicide acquittal in November for shooting and killing two protesters and wounding another during a demonstration in Wisconsin.
While former US president Donald Trump congratulated Rittenhouse in the aftermath of the verdict, Biden described himself as "angry" about the ruling, saying that it would "leave many Americans feeling angry and concerned, myself included."
"We must acknowledge that the jury has spoken,” a White House statement from the president accepted.
One of the most dramatic moments in the case came when Rittenhouse appeared to cry in court.
Los Angeles Lakers talisman James, who infamously removed a tweet telling a police officer "you're next" and subsequently claimed he is "damn tired of seeing Black people killed by police", was one of Rittenhouse's critics.
“What tears?" the basketball great mockingly asked his millions of followers at the time.
"I didn’t see one. Man, knock it off. That boy ate some lemon heads before walking into court.”
Rittenhouse has admitted he was upset by James's accusation of fakery. “I was really p*ssed off when he said that," he admitted to podcast You Are Here.
"I liked LeBron and then I’m like, you know what? F*ck you, LeBron. I'll eat lemons straight up – it's really good. I eat them straight up."
Rittenhouse conceded that attending the protest following a string of police shootings was “probably not the best idea".
“Can’t change that," he acknowledged. "But I defended myself and that’s what happened.”
Chiming in on the jokes about James, one of the podcast co-hosts somewhat tastelessly referred to accusations that the sporting legend stays silent on alleged human rights abuses in China by jibing: "He had to run it by China first. Chinese slave children write it."