Overview

• Video from the Chicago festival shows a mannequin dressed like Elon Musk in a DOGE shirt being decapitated with fake blood spraying into the crowd, alongside a separate staged killing of a Trump character.
• Right-wing accounts, including Libs of TikTok, amplified the clips on X and accused the performance of inciting violence, while others noted GWAR’s long history of satirically ‘killing’ figures across the political spectrum.
• Riot Fest’s official X account dismissed complaints in blunt replies, rejecting claims that the band crossed a line.
• A GWAR representative told the New York Post the show is an absurdist spectacle and rejected the notion that it normalizes real-world violence.
• Reports to date indicate no arrests, sanctions, or formal investigations related to the performance.