Doechii blasts Trump administration's ‘ruthless attacks' in LA amid Ice raids
The rapper Doechii turned her acceptance speech at the BET awards on Monday night into a powerful call for justice as she criticized the Trump administration's mobilization of military forces to protests in Los Angeles.
The Grammy winner used the stage to highlight the immigration raids and protest crackdowns happening just miles from where the ceremony took place in Los Angeles.
After being named best female hip-hop artist – her first-ever BET award – Doechii acknowledged her fellow nominees, then shifted the spotlight to the issues unfolding outside the venue.
'There are ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities in the name of law and order,' said Doechii, who won a Grammy for best rap album, only the third woman to win in that category.
The BET ceremony took place as tensions simmered across Los Angeles following a weekend of protest over immigration raids that took place on Friday, with dozens of people arrested. On Monday, Donald Trump authorized the mobilization of an additional 2,000 national guard members in response to the protests, bringing the total number of guards deployed to the city to more than 4,100.
Related: 'Kidnapped': families and lawyers desperate to contact LA workers arrested in Ice raids
'Trump is using military forces to stop a protest,' Doechii said in her speech. 'I want you all to consider what kind of government it appears to be when every time we exercise our democratic right to protest, the military is deployed against us. What type of government is that?'
Doechii's words drew applause from the audience at the Peacock Theater, where the awards were airing live.
'People are being swept up and torn from their families,' she continued. 'I feel like it's my responsibility as an artist to use this moment to speak up for all oppressed people … We all deserve to live in hope and not fear. I hope we stand together.'
Doechii delivered her message as demonstrations continued in Los Angeles and cities across the US, including New York, Chicago, Dallas and San Francisco. In downtown Los Angeles on Monday evening, law enforcement were seen pushing several hundred protesters east through Little Tokyo as night began to approach. Officers, who all appeared to be from the Los Angeles police department, used flash bangs and shot projectiles into the crowd as they pushed the protesters through a crowded, popular commercial area where bystanders and restaurant workers rushed to get out of their way. Some protesters set off fireworks and threw water bottles at the officers, yelling 'Shame!' or chanting, 'Ice out of LA'.
California leaders have condemned Trump's actions as inflammatory. Karen Bass, the Los Angeles mayor, criticized the mobilization of national guard troops and marines as a 'deliberate attempt' by the Trump administration to 'create disorder and chaos in our city'. 'I feel like we are part of an experiment that we did not ask to be a part of,' Bass said on Monday.
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