Marilyn Manson points fake rifle at crowd during San Bernardino concert

Marilyn Manson pointed a fake rifle at audience members during a concert Sunday night in San Bernardino, California.

Manson performed the song, “We Know Where You [Expletive] Live” off of his new album, “Heaven Upside Down,” while singing into a microphone attached to the scope of a fake semi-automatic rifle, according to video obtained by TMZ.

The controversial performer pointed the fake gun at members of the audience while the drums serve as rapid fire, the Orange County Register reported.

The performance at Knotfest in San Bernardino’s Glen Helen Amphitheater came on the eve of a deadly mass shooting at a church in Sutherland Springs, Texas, where a man carrying a Ruger AR rifle killed 26 people and wounded 20 others.

San Bernardino was also the site of a 2015 mass shooting and terrorist attack in which 15 people were killed.

Manson performed the song while sitting in a wheelchair after he suffered a broken ankle during an onstage accident in September.

The singer issued a statement Monday afternoon defending the stunt as “an act of theater” and said he meant no disrespect to victims of gun violence.

“In an era where mass shootings have become a nearly daily occurrence, this was an act of theater in an attempt to make a statement about how easily accessible semi-automatic weapons are and how seeing them has become normalized,” he said.

“My art has always been a reaction to popular culture and my way to make people think about the horrible things that happen in this world,” he said. “My performance was not meant to be disrespectful or show any insensitivity. The prop microphone I used on stage was handed to me with the approval of a police officer. My empathy goes out to anyone who has been affected by the irresponsible and reprehensible misuse of REAL guns.”