Hatebreed: Not A White Power Band

The story, titled “Hate With A Beat: White Power Music,” was written by Lonnie Nasatir, the director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Upper Midwest Region. The white supremacist movement subculture has been in the news following Sunday’s shooting at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin and the revelation that the gunman played in two white power bands.

Nasatir wrote that there are about 100 to 150 white power bands in the U.S. and noted that “the bands’ own names defiantly express feelings of hate or violence.” As an example he listed Hatebreed along with Aggravated Assault, Angry Aryans, Definite Hate, Final Solution, Force Fed Hate, Fueled by Hate, Hate Crime, Jew Slaughter and White Terror.

The only problem is that Hatebreed is not a white power band.

Once the band found out about the story it logged onto Twitter to ask its fans for help getting a correction.

“Please everyone tweet @CNN & @ChicagoADL demanding that they remove our name from their article. Help us find a contact for Lonnie Nasatir,” Hatebreed tweeted Aug. 8.

The band also used Twitter to insult the cable news channel and Nasatir.

“Again @CNN loses all respect. First they ignore the #FREERANDYBLYTHE story now they slander us. We demand a retraction & an apology. #hacks”

“Writers like Lonnie Nasatir are the reason why the American media is looked at as a complete joke. Shame on @CNN & @chicagoadl @cnnopinion.”

“Our music brings people of all races together all over the world. @CNN @cnnopinion & @chicagoADL need to get their facts straight.”

In addition to a retraction, Hatebreed says it wants an apology from Nasatir. The band claimed that if the writer didn’t say sorry, it would post his phone number on Twitter so fans could call him.

CNN removed Hatebreed’s name from the story and added the following correction: “A previous version of this commentary incorrectly included the band Hatebreed in a list of white power bands. Hatebreed is a self-described ‘hardcore metal’ band. CNN regrets the error.”

The Anti-Defamation League updated its Chicago Facebook page to say: “Hatebreed was mistakenly included in the list of white supremacist hate bands in an opinion piece for CNN. That reference has been removed from CNN and we sincerely regret that the band appeared in our piece.”