U.S. Republicans "glorify political violence" by embracing extreme gun culture: The Guardian

LONDON, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Republicans in the U.S. state of Idaho have been criticized for "glorifying political violence" after the party hosted Kyle Rittenhouse, the American who shot and killed two people at an anti-racism protest and injured another, as a celebrity guest at a fundraiser, The Guardian has reported.

The 20-year-old was the guest of honor at a Bonneville county Republican party event, in Idaho Falls, Idaho, on April 15, where an AR-15 style rifle signed by Rittenhouse was auctioned off as part of a fundraiser and people could buy tickets to "Trigger time": a Rittenhouse-hosted shooting event at a gun range, it said on Monday.

The event, amid a prolonged spate of mass shootings - many conducted with AR-15s - suggests a further embrace by Republicans of the most extreme elements of the gun lobby in the United States, despite polls showing a majority of Americans, across party affiliation, supporting some gun control laws, it said.

The embrace and lauding of someone like Rittenhouse is dangerous, The Guardian quoted Stephen Piggott as saying. Piggott is a researcher at Western States Center.

"Elected officials and media personalities should really be denouncing political violence, not embracing it," Piggott said.