Jacksonville, Florida metalcore band Evergreen Terrace has pulled out of the Shell Shock II festival they were set to headline next month, citing, among other things, that the festival was booked by a controversial conservative figure. Kyle Rittenhouse at the event as a “VIP guest”.
The festival is said to raise funds and awareness around PTSD and is held The Anti Hero Podcast:Many of the groups booked for the event involved active first responders. The festival’s social media accounts appear to have gone private as a result of this controversy, but PRP: reported that social media accounts said festival organizers were “excited” about Rittenhouse’s performance.
For those who don’t remember, Rittenhouse is a divisive figure who has been hailed as a hero in right-wing circles after a 2020 incident in which he drove to Kenosha, WI to protect local businesses following a shooting protest. Jacob Blake by a policeman. During the incident, Rittenhouse shot three men, killing two of them, and later pleaded not guilty in self-defense. Rittenhouse supporters like to point to the history of the men Rittenhouse killed, particularly the sex crimes that Joseph Rosenbaum was convicted in 2002, while his detractors claim that Rittenhouse he hardly knew anything about it when he killed those people.
“Evergreen Terrace has always supported and continues to support charitable events for veterans, PTSD awareness, child poverty and much more,” the group said in a statement on Instagram, “but we will not match an event that promotes a perceived killer such as e.g. Kyle Rittenhouse capitalizing on their fake celebrity.
“Unfortunately, we did not do our due diligence regarding this particular event,” the statement continued. “Even after they offered to pull Step: We discovered a few associated entities from the event that we just don’t agree with.
“As advocates of freedom of speech, we respectfully cancel the Shell Shock festival. We will personally contribute to veterans’ charities and encourage you to do the same. Encouragers have been nothing less than understanding.
“Lines we draw in the sand… depends on where we stand.”
See you soon, Orlando.”
It remains unclear where and if the event is now Rittenhouse is still part of the bill.
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