Jesse Hughes: Bataclan Security ‘Had a Reason Not to Show Up’
Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes suggested the security detail at the Bataclan was in on the Paris terrorist attacks last November during an interview with Fox Business Network.
Hughes said he felt something was amiss when he first arrived at the venue and noted the security guard for the backstage area didn’t look at him. “I immediately went to the promoter and said, ‘Who’s that guy? I want to put another dude on,'” Hughes claimed. “And 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.”
When asked why the guards didn’t arrive, Hughes did not make an official statement “out of respect for the police investigating.” But he continued, “It seems rather obvious that they had a reason not to show up.”
The first part of Hughes’ interview on Kennedy aired Wednesday, while part two airs tonight, Thursday March 10th, at 8 p.m. ET.
Eighty-nine people were killed during Eagles of Death Metal’s show at the Bataclan in Paris on November 13th, 2015, including the band’s merch manager, Nick Alexander. While the group returned to Europe last month to finish their Nos Amis tour, they were forced to cancel a handful of dates after Hughes suffered a hand injury. Still, Eagles of Death Metal were able to return to Paris, where they played a triumphant, but poignant, set with co-founder Josh Homme on drums.
While the overwhelming majority of the statements from Hughes and the rest of Eagles of Death Metal about the Paris attacks have been sympathetic, heartfelt and pained, the frontman has gotten political on the subject prior to his Kennedy interview. Upon the band’s return to Paris, Hughes gave an emotional interview with French TV channel, iTélé, in which he slammed the country’s strict gun control laws.
“Did your French gun control stop a single person from dying at the Bataclan?” He said. “If anyone can answer yes, I’d like to hear it, because I don’t think so. I think the only thing that stopped it was some of the bravest men that I’ve ever seen in my life charging head-first into the face of death with their firearms.”