Andrew Laming staffer dresses as Kyle Rittenhouse for delayed Halloween party

A taxpayer-funded staffer for federal MP Andrew Laming, Barclay McGain, has posed with a paintball-style toy assault rifle dressed as acquitted Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager who shot dead two Black Lives Matter protesters and was acquitted of all criminal charges related to the deaths in a trial that deeply divided opinion in the US.

Rittenhouse has become a celebrated figure in right-wing circles after he was acquitted last month on charges of murdering Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, and the shooting of Gaige Grosskreutz, 27, during protests for racial justice in Wisconsin last year.

McGain said the costume was for a delayed Halloween party and the replica assault rifle was a toy gel blaster gun, which shoots soft gel pellets. While many states have outlawed gel blasters, or require a firearms licence to own them, they remain legal in Queensland.

The photograph posted online shows McGain on a private balcony.

Laming hired McGain as an electorate officer, a taxpayer-funded position, in February 2020, while the staffer was still under party investigation.

However, in March 2021 Laming confirmed to Sky News that McGain was again on the payroll after being made to sit out for six months. McGain says he was officially welcomed back in early January.

When approached for comment, Laming did not deny that McGain was currently in his employment, instead stating that he did not wish to comment.

Laming also declined to comment on if he believes the costume and post were appropriate behaviour for a political staffer.

After the schoolies video emerged McGain was suspended, and later resigned, from the Liberal party.

Guardian Australia has chosen not to publish the picture.