A group of self-described communists crashed country singer Jason Aldean’s concert near Chicago on Saturday to protest his controversial song “Try That In A Small Town.”
Aldean has received praise and condemnation since the release of the track, which has been described as a violent “pro-lynching song” by critics who also took issue with the song’s politically charged music video.
Members of the Revolution Club of Chicago called “Try That In A Small Town” a “fascist anthem” and “rallying cry for Civil War” before gathering over the weekend.
The group, a local chapter of the Revolutionary Communist Party, was met with middle fingers and angry jeers while demonstrating around Tinley Park, where about 20 Marxists demanded a political revolution while burning American flags and calling Aldean a “fascist piece of shit.”
Disregarding Aldean’s lyrical threat to “see how far ya make it down the road” if you “stomp on the flag and light it up,” one of the protestors told the Chicago Tribune, “We will try that in a big city. And, we will try it right in front of your concert.”
After the demonstrators began setting American flags ablaze, police came and declared the demonstration an unlawful assembly, according to a video segment from News2Share.
Authorities used a megaphone to tell the group that witnesses were “alarmed and disturbed” by their actions. Police ordered the protesters to disband, saying they would use “chemical and/or less lethal munitions” to make them leave.
The protestors eventually dispersed and no arrests were made. HuffPost has reached out to the Tinley Park Police Department for further details.
Aldean responded to initial criticism of “Try That In A Small Town” after the music video was briefly pulled from Country Music Television earlier this summer.
“There is not a single lyric in the song that references race or points to it- and there isn’t a single video clip that isn’t real news footage,” he said, referring to footage of Black Lives Matter protests which was later edited out of the music video.
Attempting to tack an apolitical message onto “Try That In A Small Town,” Aldean told critics the song is about “the feeling of a community that I had growing up, where we took care of our neighbors, regardless of differences of background or belief.”