West Memphis 3 Release Inspires Response From Pearl Jam, X and More

The West Memphis 3, a trio of then-teenagers convicted in 1994 of killing three young boys in Arkansas as part of an alleged Satanic ritual, have been unexpectedly released following an 18-year prison term.

For years many, people, including Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder and Johnny Depp (both of whom were on hand at the Arkansas court house Friday, Aug. 19 to hear the judge rule on the case), have supported Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin and their claim of innocence. News of their release has prompted many of their proponents to take to Twitter, with Sage Francis, My Chemical Romance, X and more weighing in on the hotly contested case.

"WM3 are free!" Pearl Jam's Mike McCready tweeted.

"Sending my best to the West Memphis 3," hip-hop star Sage Francis tweeted. "They may finally be set free. Watch 'Paradise Lost' if u haven't already. #wm3"

"Finally some great news wm3 released!!!!!" X's Exene Cervenka tweeted. "So many people worked so hard to help them, thank you all."

"Wow. The West Memphis 3 are free," Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian tweeted. "Raise a glass to freedom better late than never."

"I'm so happy that the WM3 are finally free," My Chemical Romance's Frank Lero tweeted. "I only wish someone could be held accountable for their injustice & the tragedy that spawned it."

"Beautiful things went down in Arkansas today. Beautiful beautiful things," Dixie Chicks' singer Natalie Maines, who was also at the court house, tweeted.

"The gag order has been lifted, so now I can tell you, I'm sitting in a holding room at the courthouse about to see three men walk free!" she continued, thanking Eddie Vedder who "worked hard on this and is an angel!"

"All 3 boys will be set free today and all 3 are completely innocent. They must plead guilty as a technicality so they can't sue AK for $$," she added before correcting her incorrect State abbreviation in a later post. "3 men are free after 18 years of wrongful imprisonment and you guys are giving me state abbreviation grief. Fine! Arkansas is AR not AK!"

"West Memphis 3 are free!!" Soul Coughing singer Mike Doughty also said via Twitter.

While pop princess Mandy Moore offered her own thoughts. "Incredible!! Justice served," she tweeted, "still such a sad story."

Watch West Memphis 3 Documentary 'Paradise Lost' Part One