LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jessie Hughes sparked widespread social media condemnation over the weekend when, in a series of posts, he attacked the teenaged survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting who are now at the forefront of the #NeverAgain movement calling for gun control.
In the series of posts, many now deleted, Hughes, an outspoken proponent of the second amendment, accused the students who participated in the March 24th’“March for Our Lives” rallies of manipulating the tragedy to advance their personal agenda and to escape from school.
“And when the truth don’t line up with your bullshit narrative just hold your breath and stamp your feet and refused to except [SIC] it…. then take multiple days off of school playing hooky at the expense of 16 of your classmates blood….!…. it might be funny if it wasn’t so pathetic and disgusting,” Hughes wrote in a now-deleted post.
Hughes was candid about his criticism of the protesters, noting that the young people who participated in the March 24 marches were not supporting the memories of those killed at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting but, rather “abuse and insult me.”
“Obviously….The best thing to do to combat chronic abusers and disregarders of the law(like the law against Murder) is to……..pass another Law!…..Genius!!!…… but before we pass this law we’re going to denigrate the memory and curse ourselves by exploiting the death of 16 of our fellow students for a few Facebook likes and some media attention….and look how well civil rights abuses as it concerns firearms helped to protect me and my friends in Paris!!!!! This almost sounds like the plan of like a kid maybe like a high school student….!. Oh wait that’s right…. The Whitney Houston song about letting the children lead the way wasn’t actually had operating paradigm for life…..And when the truth don’t line up with your bullshit narrative just hold your breath and stamp your feet and refused to except it…. then take multiple days off of school playing hooky at the expense of 16 of your classmates blood….!…. it might be funny if it wasn’t so pathetic and disgusting……As the survivor of a mass shooting I can tell you from first-hand experience that all of you protesting and taking days off from school insult the memory of those who were killed and abuse and insult me and every other lover of liberty by your every action…..Long Live Rock’n’Roll….. and may everyone of these disgusting vile abusers of the dead live as long as possible so they can have the maximum amount of time to endure their shame….and be Cursed….” Hughes continued, in the now-deleted post.
“As the survivor of a mass shooting I can tell you from first-hand experience that all of you protesting and taking days off from school insult the memory of those who were killed and abuse and insult me and every other lover of liberty by your every action,” Hughes added.
In another post, that has since been deleted, Hughes reposted an image of Emma Gonzalez, a Parkland survivor and outspoken activist for the #NeverAgain movement, tearing a photograph of the U.S. Constitution in half.
The image, which was first posted on Gab, a social media site popular with the alt-right, made the rounds on other social media sites before people noted that it had been photoshopped. The original image, taken for a Teen Vogue photo shoot, showed Gonzalez tearing up a paper shooting range target and not the constitution.
Predictably, Hughes outspoken remarks were met with widespread condemnation from the Twitterverse, with responses ranging from considered criticisms of Hughes’ views to outright personal attacks.
Eagles of Death Metal frontman #JesseHughes goes off on “pathetic and disgusting” student-led protests against gun violence, shares disturbing images mocking student protestor #EmmaGonzalez and trans people: https://t.co/jUoOSWEsSd pic.twitter.com/8cK4dMQZaM
— Consequence of Sound (@consequence) March 26, 2018
Firstly; as a 45 year old man, he should know better than to say such terrible things about a teenage girl. Secondly; the level of bigotry in his posts is shocking. I hope they are not opinions shared by the rest of the band. If so, I hope their sales plummet #jessehughes #EODM https://t.co/DLhUGGDaq8
— Matilda 🌹 (@MooreStuffToSay) March 26, 2018
Hughes was onstage with the Eagles of Death Metal at the Bataclan Theatre in 2015 when ISIS terrorists killed 89 people in an attack on the venue, including the band’s merch manager, Nick Alexander. The band’s shows have since included increased security measures.
After the Bataclan shooting, Hughes also courted controversy and in an interview with Taki’s Magazine’s Gavin McInnes, leveled criticism at Islam, suggesting that Muslims were “celebrating in the streets” after the attacks. He also suggested that Muslim security personnel at the Bataclan may have been implicated in the attack. The comments in the interview cost the EODM several performances in France after they were dropped from festival lineups amid the backlash.
