Protesters burn flags outside Jason Aldean’s Tinley Park concert

A community organization that aligns itself with communist beliefs staged a protest outside country music singer Jason Aldean’s concert in Tinley Park on Saturday night.

Aldean received praise and criticism for his chart-topping song “Try That In A Small Town”, with lyrics warning people not to commit acts of violence, swear at the police, or burn the American flag in small towns because retaliation would be harsher. than in the city.

Critics say the message that small-town citizens will take matters into their own hands recalls the rhetoric of Jim Crow.

A group of about 20 people gathered outside the Credit Union 1 Amphitheater in Tinley Park as part of a protest led by Revolution Club Chicago, a far-left group calling for revolution against capitalism.

“Guess what Jason (Aldean)?” said Rafael Kadaris of Berkeley, California, who came to Chicago to protest. said. “We’ll try this in a small town. We’ll try this in a big city. And we’ll try this right in front of your concert.

About a dozen police officers surrounded the group as Leo Pargo, one of the leaders of the Revolutionary Club of Chicago, struck a lighter and set the flag on fire.

Kadaris said there were no altercations between protesters and concertgoers, other than a few people getting angry.

The veteran Nashville star’s song became a conservative rally cry after CMT banned the music video, which was filmed at the Tennessee courthouse once used for lynchings, the Los Angeles Times reports. Fox News and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis expressed their support, helping the song become a symbol of the left’s so-called cancel culture overreach and propelling Aldean to top the Hot 100 for the first time.

Many important names in the Democratic Party sang Aldean’s song.

Democratic State Rep. Justin Jones of Tennessee said on CNN about the Aldean song: “It’s an anthem that reminds me of the stories of young men killed by white vigilantes like Trayvon Martin, Ralph Yarl… Ahmaud Arbery.”

The song’s music video, which has been viewed more than 35 million times, is interspersed with some clips of flag burnings and large protests.

Representatives for Aldean did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the weekend. However, when the song was released and the media backlash was shared, Aldean responded with a social media post.

“There is not a single lyric in the song that references or alludes to race, and there is not a single video clip that is not actual news footage,” Aldean said on social media, according to Billboard. Posts no longer appear on social media pages.

Pargo said burning the flag was an advocated speech. He also defended communism, saying that people in the United States were “being lied to about communism,” saying that this protest welcomed people who disagreed with all the principles of the Revolutionary Club of Chicago.

First Publication Date: September 10, 2023, 16:32