Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes took to Instagram on Saturday and harshly criticized the surviving students of the Parkland Shooting.
Hughes called the students “pathetic” and “vile abusers of the dead” and that they were “exploiting” the deaths of their friends by speaking out publicly for stricter gun control laws in the country.
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He particularly called out student Emma Gonzalez, who had been vocal both in interviews and at gun control rallies, calling her a “survivor of nothing” and an “awful face of treason.”
Hughes later returned to Instagram on Saturday to attempt to apologize and clarify his statements.
“Recently I made posts on my Instagram that did not communicate how I feel about a variety of topics,” Hughes said in his apology. “What I’d intended to be a statement about the hijacking by any side of the aisle of the beautiful agenda of a movement of our nation’s youth came off seeming like a mean-spirited, personal attack and slight of the youth themselves and even a personal attack of its leadership.”
“I want to be clear I never intended for that to happen,” Hughes continued. “I was not attempting to impugn the youth of America and this beautiful thing they’ve accomplished. I truly am sorry, I did not mean to hurt anyone or cause any harm.”
Hughes joined the group of public personalities to speak out against the Parkland Shooting survivor’s efforts for improved gun control, including Frank Stallone, Ted Nugent and Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham.
The students recently hosted the March for Our Lives rally in Washington D.C. last weekend. Hundreds of thousands were in attendance for the march and subsequent speeches in the nation’s capitol, and celebrities like Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Jennifer Hudson, Paul McCartney and Miley Cyrus were in attendance.
Gonzalez, after giving a speech, stood in silence onstage for six minuets and 20 seconds, representing the amount of time shooter Nikolas Cruz spent during his shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School back on Feb. 14. Cruz shot and killed 14 students and three teachers during that time, using an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle he’d legally purchased.
“Since the time that I came out here, it has been six minutes and 20 seconds,” Gonzalez said. “The shooter has ceased shooting, and will soon abandon his rifle, blend in with the students as they escape, and walk free for an hour before arrest. Fight for your lives before it’s someone else’s job.”
Photo: Instagram / @fatherbadass
