This past weekend saw The Acacia Strain dragged into the Dayton, OH mass shooting when photos emerged showing the lifeless body of the apparent shooter wearing a hoodie of the band. The photo led to early reports scapegoating the band’s music and lyrics for potentially influencing the shooter, reports which The Acacia Strain frontman Vincent Bennett condemned on social media.
During the band’s set last night (August 04th) in Cudahy, WI, he addressed the audience as follows on the tragic events:
“Before we start, I want to kind of say something about the things that have been happening in the past couple of days. Kinda bullshit. Anybody that knows this band knows that we don’t condone anything even close to the things that have been happening in El Paso–the things that have been happening in Dayton.
It’s disgusting, it’s sad and all I do this for is so you have a safe place to be. So you can have a good fucking time, so you can get your energy out, so you can leave smiling.
All I ever wanted to do was make music. All I ever wanted to do was make people happy. So please, just have a good fucking time tonight. Throw everything else out the window. Smile. Make a new friend. Just have fun. Please.”
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