The Paris venue Le Bataclan furiously denied the theory that their security team had advance knowledge of the shooting that killed 89 people during the Paris terror attacks in late 2015. Venue representatives called the claims made by Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes “insane” in a statement.
According to their statement, which was published by Variety:
“Jesse Hughes spread some very grave and defamatory accusations against the Bataclan teams… We wish to let justice proceed serenely. All the testimonies gathered to this day demonstrate the professionalism and courage of the security agents who were on the ground on November 13. Hundreds of people were saved thanks to [their] intervention.”
So what was it that Hughes said to irritate the venue? He floated the idea that Bataclan security knew of the attack before it happened in an interview with Fox Business Network, which was conducted by network host and former MTV VJ Kennedy.
“When I first got to the venue and walked in, I walked past the dude who was supposed to be the security guard for the backstage. He didn’t even look at me. I immediately went to the promoter and said, ‘Who’s that guy? I want to put another dude on.’ He says, ‘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 it seems rather obvious that they had a reason not to show up.”
This isn’t the first time that Hughes has made controversial statements regarding the attack. As the band resumes touring and returns to Paris, Hughes has gone on record saying that if more of the attendees had been armed, then lives would have been saved.
(Via SPIN)