John Cooper, lead singer of Skillet, lives in Kenosha, WI, where protesting, rioting, and looting broke out after Jacob Blake was shot by police. During the upheaval, John took a photo of a spray painted piece of plywood in a boarded up window that read, “PLEASE KIDS ABOVE.”

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No caption necessary. #kenosha *edited to explain that this is a store owner in the city we live in that is currently being threatened, burned, and destroyed. People have been killed. Cooper family and all of the skillet family and crew are all safe. But many people are not. 🙏 ❤️

A post shared by john cooper (@johnlcooper) on Aug 26, 2020 at 1:19pm PDT

In a recent Facebook post, he said, “This is about other things… Anarchy.” He also said his friends around Wisconsin have evidence that these riots are organized. He explained, “Some of the local civilians joined up in like a militia thing. They had armed civilians checking all the cars going into their subdivisions to keep things safe.”

Cooper also had a strong message for Christians who defend the riots, “Especially for some of my Christian brothers and sisters, who I love, who keep saying, ‘This is about justice,’ This crap is not about justice. This stuff is nasty, and people are doing a lot of nasty stuff down here. And I never thought I would have enter into a time where I actually have to strap on my AR to keep my family safe because I’m five blocks away from where they’re burning down the place that I live in.”

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=719135948671403&extid=uXBzyKmjKcJV4IiA

While standing in front of a mural painted by Ledger, he spoke to Fox & Friends about the violence he’s witnessed in his hometown of Kenosha, WI. He talked about how peaceful and loving Kenosha is. “It’s not racist.” Then he said about the violence, “The problem is there’s not enough condemnation against the violence because when people are burning down your city and slashing your tires threatening to come into my neighborhood and quote, “F&%$ up my neighborhood,” now, I can’t hear you.”

At the end of the interview, he stopped the interviewer from cutting to a commercial and asked for one last closing statement, “We had an amazing prayer meeting- 14 pastors- black, white, red, brown. Everyone came together because we believe there is one hope, and it’s not a President. It is the hope in Jesus Christ that gives you a brand new heart to love people that don’t always love you back. And Jesus can change all of this. He can bring peace.”

Skillet Frontman Speaks Out on Kenosha, WI — Watch Video Now