A communist revolutionary group was caught burning an American flag during a protest outside a Jason Aldean concert in Chicago on Saturday night while mocking the country artist’s controversial hit song .
Video shared by News2Share shows about 20 Communist Party members belonging to the Revolutionary Club of Chicago gathered outside Credit Union 1 Amphitheater in Tinley Park, shouting revolutionary calls against capitalism and chanting “F–k the US and all its power” and other phrases.
In the video, the band slams Aldean’s song “Try It in a Small Town” while burning an American flag and calling the Georgia-born artist’s song “fascist shit.”
“Guess what, Jason? We’re going to try this in a small town,” Rafael Kadaris, a California resident who flew to the Windy City to attend the protest, told the Chicago Tribune.
“We’re going to try this in the big cities. We’re going to try it before your concert.”
As members of the Revolution Club burned Old Glory, law enforcement quickly intervened in the protest, declaring over loudspeakers that the group was an “unlawful assembly,” and that concertgoers were “shocked and disturbed” by their presence, video showed.
“You are disturbing the public peace without legal authority,” a Tinley Park police officer told them over a loudspeaker as they chanted.
“We order you to disband immediately. Failure to comply may result in the use of chemicals or less legal conditions,” the official warned the group, who cheered the official’s ultimatum.
The group continued to burn another flag but left the protest area shortly after repeated orders and warnings from police.
The protesters gradually moved out of view of the theater, but continued shouting anti-American and anti-capitalist slogans as they were escorted by police through the streets.
Kadaris told the outlet that apart from being provoked on a few occasions, the group had not had any altercations with Aldean fans during the protests and flag burnings.
The concert went on as scheduled and no arrests were reported.
Protesters also expressed support for RevCom (Revolutionary Communist Party), a group that believes in creating a Marxist revolution in the United States and calls the United States “the belly of the imperialist beast,” its website said.
Chicago Revolutionary Club leader Leo Pargo, who was arrested for lighting one of the many flags, declared to the press that his right to free speech was protected by burning the Stars and Stripes while defending communism.
“The American people were deceived about communism,” Pargo told the Chicago Tribune.
Aldean’s hit song, which remains firmly in the top 100 of the Billboard Hot 100 following its release in May, quickly took off after a music video debuted in July and showed real news footage of posthumous riots, looting and violence in 2020. Attention and outrage. George Floyd.
Those who objected to the artist’s song believed Aldean was criticizing Black Lives Matter protests and riots.
Days after the music video was released, the “She’s Country” singer took to social media to clarify the matter.
“In the last 24 hours I have been accused of releasing a pro-lynching song (which has been out since May) and being accused (direct quote) of not being too vocal about the BLM protests across the country Satisfied, “he wrote is available to his 3.8 million followers on X (formerly Twitter).
“These references are not only worthless, they are dangerous.”
