Marilyn Manson T-shirt Sparks Controversy
A Texas teenager who was arrested last week for wearing a
Marilyn Manson T-shirt is now getting support from
Winterland Productions, the company who produced
the shirt.
When the police in New Braunfels, Texas, arrested John
Schroeder, an 18-year-old high school student, they
violated his First Amendment right to wear that article of
clothing, according to a spokesman for Winterland. “We will not
print messages of hate or violence, but we have and will continue
to print the artistic messages of our musicians — some that are
controversial, and many that are not,” said Donn
Tice, CEO of Winterland.
Schroeder was arrested on obscenity charges by a police officer
who was working in a New Braunfels grocery store as a security
guard. Schroeder and his mother were shopping when the security
guard approached Schroeder and told him he’d have to leave the
store because the slogan on his T-shirt — “I am the god of f***”
— was offensive to some of the store’s customers. The slogan is
the opening line to Manson’s first CD, Portrait of an American
Family, which was produced by Trent
Reznor.
To make matters worse, the officer made Schroeder sit on a bench
in front of the store in order to humiliate him when customers
walked by, according to his mother, Olga
Schroeder. Schroeder was then taken to the county jail,
where he stayed for three hours before posting a $250 bond.
“This is about freedom of expression, not a criminal matter,”
said Diana Phillip, regional director of the
American Civil Liberties Union of North Texas,
which is defending Schroeder.
Winterland’s Tice said his company has been printing concert
paraphernalia for the likes of The Doors, Led
Zeppelin and Madonna for the past 30
years. “Every generation has its rebels, its shockers and its
rockers. Through the generations, some have been offended, some
have been delighted. With the exception of some self-styled
vigilantes, most reasonable people have gotten used to it.”
When JAMTV contacted
Interscope Records to find out Marilyn Manson’s
reaction to the matter, we were told he was holed up in a studio
working on a follow-up to 1997’s Antichrist Superstar and
therefore was unavailable for comment.