Eagles of Death Metal’s Jesse Hughes Offers Emotional Testimony, Quotes Ozzy In Bataclan Attack Trial

In November of 2015, an Eagles of Death Metal show at Paris venue the Bataclan was attacked by Muslim terrorists, who shot and killed over 100 people (this reporter vividly remembers updating this linked piece as the details unfolded). Since then, Eagles of Death Metal frontman Jesse Hughes has released various statements on the incident, from claiming Muslim security guards were warning other Arabs as part of a global Arab conspiracy to calling the kids who survived the Parkland shooting “pathetic and disgusting.” But yesterday, May 17th, Hughes took part in the ongoing trial against the one surviving member of the terrorist group that attacked the Bataclan, and offered words of forgiveness, along with an Ozzy Osbourne quote.

As reported by The Washington Post, Hughes claimed that his life is indelibly altered since the attack, saying, “I live a different life. I’ll never be the same.” He then went on to say that he forgave the attackers:

“Yeah. It’s important to forgive. I’m a Christian. And…everyone can be lost, and everyone needs to find a way. And most of those gentlemen in there do. So I forgive them, and I hope they find the peace of God for themselves.”

Hughes then closed with a quote from Ozzy Osbourne: “You can’t kill rock n roll.”

According to the Post, the sole surviving member of the terrorist cell, Salah Abdeslam, is the key defendant in the trial. Until recently he had been flippant and contradictory in the face of questioning, but eventually broke down and asked for forgiveness from the victim’s families.

On the one hand, we cannot imagine how Hughes feels having survived this horrible attack, and his testimony (hopefully) displays a sense of closure for his trauma surrounding the attacks, and (hopefully) signals some emotional growth on his part. That said, these statemens here does not erase the hateful things he’s said to the Parkland victims, and to Arabic people throughout the world.

More on the trial as we know about it.