Following a 13 minute Instagram video last week where he explained how his socio-political views differed from those of his bandmate Serj Tankian, System of a Down drummer John Dolmayan shared another post to explain more of his viewpoints on what’s going in the U.S. right now.
Dolmayan’s recent post — which was a photo of Mark Twain paired with a quote that he may or may not have coined — emphasized that he thought defunding the police was “stupidity.”
Dolmayan says he believes that celebrities calling for the defunding of police are doing “one of two things:” showing “how woke they are” or saying “anything to maintain their positions.” He insisted that money taken from police budgets will later wind up back in police budgets.
Throughout the U.S., protesters have pushed to defund police forces and reallocate funds elsewhere after the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police on May 25 and other instances of police brutality and excessive force during ongoing nationwide protests. Their calls are starting to be heard and on Sunday, nine members of Minneapolis City Council pledged to dismantle the Police Department and promised to create a new public safety system.
“You are being agitated into a frenzy , divided , and then placated,” he wrote. “No real changes will be instituted except that many of you will be even more dependent on the government you so adamantly oppose.”
Fans were divided on Dolmayan’s take, as he responded to many in the post’s comment section.
“I think you should keep this all to yourself,” one fan wrote, to which Dolmayan replied “fake account.”
Another fan called his post “peak circular reasoning with a flourish of insane logic.” Dolmayan replied, calling the defunding of police “idiotic.”
Tankian, on the other hand, has spoken out in support of the protests on Instagram, writing that “for all those who tell artists to stick to music and not speak about socio-political affairs, I guess you never listened to the words,” along with lyrics from SOAD’s “Deer Dance.”
