Rock musician Ted Nugent posted a message about “who is really behind gun control” on Facebook that the Anti-Defamation League slammed as anti-Semitic.
In the post, Nugent shares a grid of photos of Jewish legislators and leaders who support gun control, labeling each photo with Israeli flags and descriptions like “Jew York City mayor Mikey Bloomberg” and, under a photo of the late New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg, “Gave Russian Jew immigrants your tax money.”
Nugent apparently did not create the photo grid himself—the ADL says it has appeared elsewhere in the past—but he wrote a message accompanying it saying, “Know these punks. They hate freedom, they hate good over evil, they would deny us the basic human right to self defense & to KEEP & BEAR ARMS while many of them have tax paid hired ARMED security!”
ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt condemned the post in a statement and called on Nugent to take it down, arguing that “making the outrageous suggestion that Jews are behind gun control, is nothing short of conspiratorial anti-Semitism. Regardless of one’s views on gun control, this kind of scapegoating of an entire religious group is completely unacceptable and completely divorced from reality.”
More Must-Reads from TIME
- Your Vote Is Safe
- The Best Inventions of 2024
- How the Electoral College Actually Works
- Robert Zemeckis Just Wants to Move You
- Column: Fear and Hoping in Ohio
- How to Break 8 Toxic Communication Habits
- Why Vinegar Is So Good for You
- Meet TIME's Newest Class of Next Generation Leaders
Contact us at letters@time.com