Blanding teenager berated at concert for wearing Trump jersey

The Frontman for Australian band ‘The Amity Affliction,’ Joel Birch, slammed a Blanding teenager at the band’s concert in Las Vegas on Jan. 5, for wearing a “45 jersey,” with President Donald Trump’s name on the back.
“If you want to wear that %* and you want to walk around and make other people feel uncomfortable because you have a certain set of beliefs about other human beings, please leave that %&*$ at the #$%@&*% door,” Birch said in between songs while a fan captured the scene on video.
The incident immediately went viral as Birch and the Blanding teenager took to Twitter in a back-and-forth battle starting on Jan. 6.
“This is the guy,” Birch’s Tweet said. “As you can see, a level headed speech followed by a level headed tweet lands me being called a loser, #$%@&*%, and libtard. This is why you’re not worth time. I won’t even bother blocking you, as you’re so determined to argue that you make new accounts.” The Tweet by the frontman was in response to the user Degan_Palmer, who tweeted, “This loser all because I wore a trump jersey. @JoelDTD grow up you libtard.”
The back-and-forth comments continued, culminating in Birch saying on Jan. 7, “Here’s the case for uhhhh... me? Asking people to leave it at the door? Isn’t that a fair request? If I looked out and didn’t see that too I wouldn’t have known (or cared) about this kid wearing the shirt.
“For people hell bent on misconstruing my words this is a weird snippet,” one Tweet from Birch read. “Aaaanyway @theinternet I won’t be commenting any more on the topic.
“You can twist the words or see them for what they were. I didn’t want to single out this kid for supporting Trump, I just don’t want people coming to our racially diverse shows and making anyone who isn’t white Super uncomfortable.
“Thanks for the mostly kind messages I’ve been receiving from everyone. The abusive people are always the loudest, and unfortunately the internet is a Petrie dish for this kind of unified and targeted hatred. Be who you wanna be.”
Birch, who is an avid activist against Trump and his policies in his Twitter feed has continued on with his activism after the incident and has gone back to using his Twitter feed as a forum to speak out against president Trump.
Palmer told Music Feeds on Jan. 8, “He can have his own opinions on politics and I don’t care, but the fact that he is giving me crap for supporting Trump when he isn’t even a US citizen was very funny to me and many others.”
The band wraps up their American tour on Feb. 9, in Los Angeles before heading to Birch’s home country of Australia in March for two shows before finishing the tour in Europe in June.
Fans have taken to Twitter to express their support and discontent about the incident, with some vowing to make the next stops in Florida “Trumptastic.”
The teen’s mother took to Facebook on Jan. 7, to express her frustration about the incident.
“I rarely post on Facebook but I’m just so frustrated with the way Degan Palmer was treated at The Amity Affliction concert that I can’t get over it.
“The lead singer stopped the show and called out my 17 year old kid just because he was wearing a shirt with our President’s name on it. How childish.
“There were some standup guys from our military who felt the need to escort Degan and his friend Corbin McPherson out after the concert just to make sure they made it safe.
“He basically put a target on my kids back just because he was wearing a shirt he didn’t like. And then went and posted it on his Instagram and Twitter page just to keep it going.
“I am so mad, but I am also so sad that this is the country we live in! Being offended is a choice and I wish people would stop choosing to be offended.”