Member of Argentina's 'Kyle Rittenhouse Cultural Center' arrested after celebrating a man who cocked a gun in the VP's face: report

• José Derman was arrested after praising a man who pointed a gun at Argentina's VP's face, reports say.
• He was found to be a member of a "Kyle Rittenhouse Cultural Center" in La Plata, Argentina.

A self-styled member of a "Kyle Rittenhouse Cultural Center" in Argentina was arrested on Monday after he celebrated a man who pointed a gun at the country's vice president, La Nación reported.

José Derman posted a YouTube video last week in support of Fernando Andrés Sabag Montiel, a 35-year-old Brazilian man suspected of pointing a gun in the face of Argentine Vice President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

Bystander footage showed a person with a gun appearing to pull the trigger but the firearm did not go off. A motive has not yet been determined.

In the YouTube video, Derman called the suspect a "Brazilian hero" and Fernández de Kirchner — a member of the left-wing Citizen's Unity Party —"trash," and said: "The only thing I curse is that the shot did not come out, that the ammunition failed," the Argentine TV channel TN reported.

Argentine authorities subsequently raided Derman's home, another property linked to him, and the "Kyle Rittenhouse Cultural Center" in La Plata, where they found paintings and inscriptions linked to the far right, La Nación reported.

Derman was arrested shortly afterward, La Nación reported. No charges have been filed against him, though officials said they were investigating him for "public intimidation" and "incitement to violence," La Nación reported.

There is no evidence connecting Derman to the incident involving Fernández de Kirchner.

Rittenhouse's influence abroad

The "Kyle Rittenhouse Cultural Center," apparently named after the Wisconsin teenager who fatally shot two men during Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, describes itself as a "cultural-political space of anti-communist and anti-gender ideology character" on Facebook. The page features multiple photos of Derman.

It is not clear when the center was founded and how long Derman has been affiliated with it. It is also unclear whether Rittenhouse has any links with the Argentine center; lawyers for Rittenhouse and the "Kyle Rittenhouse Cultural Center" have not returned Insider's request for comment.

Rittenhouse had become a right-wing hero in the wake of the 2020 shootings. (He was acquitted of five charges, including first-degree homicide, last November.)

Groups including the Proud Boys, the antisemitic Goyim Defense League, and the far-right Boogaloo Bois have heaped praise on Rittenhouse in social-messaging apps including Telegram, Gab, and Discord, BuzzFeed News and The Intercept reported.

In Spain, a neo-Nazi group called Front Bastion campaigned in favor of Rittenhouse during his trial last year, El Español reported.

A representative of the "Kyle Rittenhouse Cultural Center" in Argentina also told Info Blanco Sobre Negro in June that it was named after the teen because he "is a contemporary hero."

Fernández de Kirchner, who is facing corruption charges from her time as president, was left unharmed after the attempted shooting. The incident sparked nationwide protests against political violence in Argentina, The Guardian reported.