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Music

Eagles of Death Metal's Jesse Hughes Criticizes Gun Control Protesters

The singer angrily responded to calls for stricter gun laws and directly attacked Parkland survivor Emma Gonzáles.
Meredith Balkus
translated by Meredith Balkus
Brooklyn, US
Photo via Imago/Zuma Press 

A version of this article originally appeared on Noisey Austria.

On Saturday, hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets across America to attend the March for Our Lives, protesting gun violence and calling for stricter regulations around gun control. As a musician, there's three possible ways you can respond to such movements. First, you can support the protestors and their cause like Miley Cyrus, Ariana Grande, Paul McCartney, and Jaden Smith did, by either directly taking part in the demonstrations or posting something on social media. Second, you could refrain from commenting on the subject. Or, thirdly, you can wildly fuck up and out yourself as a complete piece of shit like Jesse Hughes did. Again.

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The Eagles of Death Metal frontman has a history of negative headlines. After the terrorist attacks in Paris on the evening of November 13-14, 2015, 130 people were killed—90 of them at the Bataclan Theatre, where the Eagles of Death Metal were playing a show. As Paris, Europe, and the rest of the world were busy processing the horrific events, Hughes went on a French television channel and argued that "everybody has to have guns."

Unsurprisingly, Hughes also felt the need to comment on current events, this time in the form of Instagram posts that he later deleted.

The first post, an illustration of a woman saying, "I turned in my gun to do my part in ending violence," to a man who replied, "I chopped off my own dick to stop rape," was accompanied by the following furious, typo-riddled rant:

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 accept 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 same….and be Cursed….

Hughes also posted and later deleted a Photoshopped image of Emma González, a survivor of the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which killed 17 people and injured another 17 earlier this year and prompted the March for Our Lives. The image, which was doctored to depict González—a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas who has since become an advocate for gun control—tearing up the US Constitution. The original image was from a Teen Vogue article in which the teenage activist was shown ripping up a gun-range target. Hughes later deleted the post.

In his most recent, now deleted post, Hughes wrote that he was going to create a second Instagram account to voice his political opinions:

I've made a rule and my musical life that everyone should check their politics at the door….. i've always believed in the motto I may not agree with what you're saying but I'll die for your right to say it. Saddens me to see so many not have this motto for the same….. but this is my Instagram for Rock'n'Roll and I think I'm going to keep it that way….. i'm going to start a second Instagram where I shall put my political beliefs…. I love every lover of Rock'n'Roll and And every lover of Rock'n'Roll is welcome here check your politics at the door and I'll start with myself…..!!!!!