AceShowbiz - Actor Ricky Schroder has reported a string of nasty Twitter messages to police after he was attacked online for helping to bail out accused murderer Kyle Rittenhouse.

The "NYPD Blue" star was revealed to have contributed $150,000 (£113,000) towards Rittenhouse's $2 million (£1.5 million) bail fund over the weekend (20-22Nov20), when the 17 year old was released from custody.

The news of his bail emerged three months after Rittenhouse allegedly fired at three protesters with an AR-15-style rifle in Kenosha, Wisconsin, on 25 August (20), while the city was engulfed in civil unrest following an earlier shooting by a local police officer that left victim Jacob Blake paralysed.

Rittenhouse, who claims he was acting in self-defence, was charged with multiple counts of homicide and unlawful possession of a firearm, and Schroder's apparent support for the alleged killer sparked a huge backlash on social media after the actor met up with the suspect and his defence team on Friday, and posed for a photo.

Schroder, who is said to have handed over the sum in exchange for the rights to the teen's story for a documentary, was flooded with so many angry tweets online, he called in local authorities to review the furious posts on Sunday, according to TMZ.

Schroder is not thought to have received any death threats, and cops subsequently decided there was nothing criminal about the messages, simply taking down a report for suspicious circumstances while continuing to monitor the situation.

Among the critics of his actions was iconic entertainer Bette Midler, who remarked, "Who knew he could be so malevolent?"