Northern Irish political party compares twenty one pilots imagery to terrorism

Twenty one pilots fans are backing the band after their outfits were deemed “inappropriate” by an Northern Irish political party who also compared it to terrorism.

The comments were made after Tyler Joseph and Josh Dunn wore balaclavas and performed in front of a burning car in Belfast’s SSE Arena last Saturday.

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You can check out a video of the performance at the show below.

 

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Tyler coming up this close to us was the best moment of my life :))

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Jim Allister, the head of the party the Traditional Unionist Voice, said the imagery was inappropriate in the setting. 

“Balaclavas are the stock-in-trade images of terrorism in this part of the world,” Allister said. “So to don them at this sort of event inevitably has the consequence of sanitising or glamorising that with which they are associated in this part of the world, namely terrorism.”

“Whatever they thought they were doing, this is hardly the sort of imagery that Belfast needs. Balaclavas still speak loudly in Northern Ireland of the evils of terrorism, with many still struggling to cope with the devastation and murder wrought by balaclava-clad killers.

“I would be very surprised if nobody associated with this operation has any knowledge of the Troubles, which has been beamed around the world for decades.”

According to the Belfast Telegraph, many fans present at the show were not offended by the imagery.

One 19-year-old fan who attended the concert told the news outlet that she didn’t feel the band had acted “in a malicious way.” However, she said “maybe they should have done a wee bit of research.”

Many fans also backed the band on Twitter in response to the story.

In other news, twenty one pilots are currently on their Bandito tour in Europe. You can check out the dates below.

Dates:
03/07 – London, England @ The SSE Arena Wembley
03/08 – London, England @ The SSE Arena Wembley
03/11 – Paris, France @ Accorhotels Arena
03/12 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Ziggo Dome
03/13 – Brussels, Belgium @ Palais 12
03/15 – Bilbao, Spain @ Bizkaia Arena
03/16 – Madrid, Spain @ WiZink Center
03/17 – Lisbon, Portugal @ Altice Arena

 

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