Artists are speaking out against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and offering support to protestors in Los Angeles after President Donald Trump deployed the National Guard to the city over the weekend.
Among those taking to social media on Sunday (June 8) voicing their frustrations were Tyler, The Creator, Finneas, The Game, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong, Kehlani, Tom Morello, Reneé Rapp and Rebecca Black.
“F–K ICE,” Tyler wrote to his Instagram Story accompanied by a scene from 2002’s Paid in Full in which the phrase is repeated multiple times.
Billie Joe Armstrong posted a scene from one of the L.A. protests to his Instagram over the weekend, which he captioned with a middle finger emoji and an ice cube emoji. He used “F— Off” from Green Day’s latest album Saviors (Édition de Luxe) to soundtrack the clip.
Kehlani, who has never been shy to speak out about various political issues, wrote, “And long live the resistance. Every single one of them.” The singer’s IG Story message was attached to another social media post that read, “Stop calling what’s happening as L.A. RIOTS. It’s RESISTANCE.”
Rapp added a post to her IG Story condemning ICE’s actions following an uptick in deportation raids. “F—k ICE f—k this administration f—k all of yall who are complicit in ensuring that this happened this is a f—ing disgrace,” she wrote.
Black chimed in with an Instagram Story repost backing the protestors and blasting ICE’s actions. “I [heart] LA F—K ICE. F—K ALL OF YOU GI JOE LOSERS IF YOU ARE INTO THIS FASCIST S—T YOU ARE SMALL AND WEAK AND WILL LOSE,” the message reads.
Finneas attended the “very peaceful protests” himself and claimed to have been teargassed by authorities. “Tear-gassed almost immediately at the very peaceful protest downtown. They’re inciting this,” he wrote to his IG Story.
Finneas also reposted a clip that appeared to show 9News reporter Lauren Tomasi being shot in the leg with a rubber bullet by law enforcement while she was reporting from the scene.
West Coast rap veteran The Game stood in solidarity with the protestors in his post on Instagram. “Ever since I could remember … it’s been black & brown in this city,” the Compton rapper wrote. “From the early days of my childhood til now, we’ve been side by side through it all. All of us. All the time. Not always seeing eye to eye but we’ve shared Los Angeles for a very long time. I stand with y’all like I know you’d stand with us.”
Former Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello also hit the streets to stand with those in L.A. against ICE over the weekend. “Made some friends in Boyle Heights and DTLA yesterday. #DefendLA #WhatBetterPlaceThanHereWhatBetterTimeThanNow,” Morello wrote to IG with a photo of him holding a “Defend LA” sign while wearing a “Destroy American Fascism” shirt.
Plenty of other celebrities posted messages supporting the protestors and blasting the National Guard’s deployment, including actresses Jessica Alba and Eva Longoria.
Per CNN, California Attorney General Rob Bonta and Governor Gavin Newsom are planning to sue the Trump administration for deploying the National Guard to L.A. without their consent, an action the governor described as “illegal, immoral and unconstitutional.”
According to the Associated Press, police declared the protest to be an “unlawful assembly,” and most of the crowd was dispersed by the evening.
