The shoking events of this past weekend, that took place in Orlando, Florida, will be marked as some of the worst tragedies in the U.S. history. First, on Friday June 10th, young American singer, former The Voice contestant, Christina Grimmie, was shot dead at her concert, while signing autographs to fans. While the city of Orlando was still recovering from this senseless tragedy, a second attack took place just a day later. In the early hours of Sunday, June 12th, a man entered the local gay club called Pulse and started shooting, killing 49 people and wounding at least another 53. It was the deadliest mass shooting ever carried out on American soil.
The Orlando tragedies hit all the more close to home, as they occured in places designed for people of all sorts of life to enjoy themselves, have fun and forget all their problems – such as a club or a concert venue – similarly as the Paris attacks did last November.
Just like many others, the members of Simple Plan also paid their respects to the victimes of these attacks on social media. Chuck took to Instagram to publish a long post, calling for gun control regulation and standing against hate and homophobia:
“So much sadness, pain and tragedy this weekend. A young talented musician murdered, over 50 young people killed while they were out celebrating Pride weekend, having fun and listening to music. This madness needs to stop. We need more than just prayers. We need action. We need to take a stand against homophobia, discrimination and hate. We need to promote and defend LGBT rights and stand up for equality for all. We need to pass meaningful and strict gun control legislation. How many lives need to be lost before we realize that maybe this is not the kind of world we want? That maybe we can do better? For ourselves, our kids and our future.” – Chuck Comeau
Similarly, Jeff also discussed the need for better gun control policies in his Twitter post:
“History repeats itself: more guns, more violence. It’s a vicious cycle that needs to be broken. We need better laws to regulate gun control.” – Jeff Stinco
Pierre also decided to pay his respects to the LGBTQ community by posting a photo of a rainbow flag (a symbol of the LGBTQ movement) and including the following message:
“Sending out love and support to all my brothers and sisters around the world on this difficult day. I hope one day we can all be treated with love and respect. #nohate” – Pierre Bouvier
Finally, David also touched the subject in an answer in last night’s Q&A on Twitter, where a fan asked him what he thought of all the violence has been happening lately. David wrote:
“I’m deeply saddened by any act of violence happening anywhere in the world every day.” – David Desrosiers
David also later added a quote by Jimi Hendrix, that says: “When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace.”
Simple Plan will be heading out to Orlando, Florida for an acoustic session next week. No changes of plans have been reported.