The singer of the Eagles of Death Metal band issued a bombshell statement on Thursday, claiming that the Paris attacks were an inside job. The singer says he saw security guards at the Bataclan club show signs of having foreknowledge the attacks were going to take place before the audience arrived.
Jesse Hughes said he felt uneasy whilst the band were setting up for their November 13 show, when he realised one of the backstage guards refused to make eye contact with the band.
“I didn’t like him at all. And so I immediately went to the promoter and said, ‘Who’s that guy? I want to put another dude on’,” Hughes told Fox Business.
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Abc.net.au reports:
“He goes, ‘Well, some of the other guards aren’t here yet.’ And eventually I found out that six or so wouldn’t show up at all.
“Out of respect for the police still investigating, I won’t make a definite statement, but I’ll say it seems rather obvious that they had a reason not to show up.”
As the California rockers were playing, assailants opened fire and threw grenades to kill 90 people, the deadliest in a series of coordinated attacks around Paris claimed by the Islamic State group that left a total of 130 dead and 350 injured, many seriously.
Hughes said that one of the assailants allowed three fans to leave the venue, in what he saw as further proof that the culprits had previous knowledge of the Bataclan, a historic Paris venue for mid-sized rock shows.
The rocker previously made similar allegations, saying he wished he had “followed [his] instinct” as the soundman had spotted two people inside the club before the show whose attire and behaviour were at striking odds with the typical rock audience.
Hughes, in contrast to many rockers, was known even before the attacks for his right-leaning views and support for the right to own guns in the United States.
In the interview with Fox Business, Hughes said he was not necessarily advocating gun ownership but wished that fans had ways to defend themselves.
“I don’t want to shoot anybody — I would hate to do that,” he said, breaking down with emotion.
“But I, more than that, do not want to let the bad guys take any of my people, and I don’t want to go out like a punk.”
