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Red Sox slugger JD Martinez is digging in against critics of his Second Amendment Instagram post.

The right-fielder came under fire earlier this week for posting a photo of Hitler with the quote, “To conquer a nation, first disarm it’s [sic] citizens.”

He captioned the post with a very pro-gun message: “This is why I always stay strapped! #thetruth.” (RELATED: RED SOX PLAYER UNDER FIRE FOR PRO-2ND-AMENDMENT INSTAGRAM POST)

Dozens of comments flooded the post, with critics misinterpreting Martinez’s post as pro-Hitler.

But he refused to take it down and addressed the outrage this week.

“I posted it,” he said. “I love my country. I love this country. I stand by the Constitution and I stand by the Second Amendment, and it’s something that I take pride in. It’s something that I’ll back up. At the time I posted that, the Second Amendment at the time was definitely a hot topic. It’s one of those things where the point of it wasn’t to offend anybody.”

If anyone is familiar with brutal regimes, it’s JD Martinez’s family. Born and raised in Castro’s Communist Cuba, his parents fled to America to give him a better life and a shot at the majors.

“As most of you guys know I’m Cuban-American, and most of my family was run out of Cuba because of a brutal dictator. It’s terrible. It’s one of those things where I’ll never get to meet some of my family because of it,” he said, adding, “It was one of those things where I saw the quote and I saw the meme and it was terrible. But like I said, my country (was) Cuba — that was another brutal dictator at the time. They did a lot of terrible things down there — a lot of horrible things.”

JD Martinez couldn’t have issued a better statement on this issue if he tried. Here’s a guy who comes from a family that’s experienced brutality, violence, and thought control firsthand.

They were never allowed to defend themselves against threats. They were expected to obey a regime at all costs and subscribe to a singular set of beliefs. They fought against it and came to America in search of something different. And they clearly taught JD Martinez the importance of fighting back.

Thought control comes in a lot of different forms. Some of it is right here in the US. But it sounds like JD Martinez won’t be falling victim to it anytime soon.

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