Nugent: 'People who hate Ted Nugent hate freedom. Trayvon got justice'

Gun rights advocate and right-wing provocateur Ted Nugent lashed out on Saturday at critics of his recent remarks on race and protesters who are trying to have his Tuesday show in New Haven, Connecticut canceled. The New Haven Register quoted an interview with Maine AM radio station WGAN, Nugent said that slain Florida teen Trayvon Martin was a "gangster wanna-be" who was motivated by "bloodthirst," and that the teenager got what he deserved.

“People who hate Ted Nugent hate freedom,” the rocker alleged. "Trayvon got justice."

Martin said that Martin's violent tendencies were to blame for the escalation of his confrontation with George Zimmerman. He also accused the teen of racism for calling Zimmerman a "cracka."

Nugent called a group of petitioners who want his August gig at the nightclub Toad's Place in New Haven canceled "subhuman numbnuts." He said that the Obama administration and Department of Justice under Attorney General Eric Holder are "just bad people," although, he said, it "pains" him to have to say so.

Connecticut petitioner Barbara Fair said that she and other protesters are against Nugent playing in the same state where the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre took place. She told the Register that Nugent's views are not what the protest is about, but what he says on the national stage, including his racist rants since the George Zimmerman verdict, in which he blamed African-Americans for their own oppression. He also criticized Trayvon Martin's parents, saying they should ask themselves why they raised a "gangsta wanabe, Skittles hoodie boy."

[hat-tip to Think Progress]