Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong tells ICE to “fuck off” in LA protest video
- Text by Isaac Muk
- Photography by Sven-Sebastian Sajak
Saviors — The singer shared the post on Sunday, featuring the band’s recently released song ‘Fuck Off’ as its soundtrack.
Green Day’s lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong has shared a video showing solidarity with Los Angeles protestors, after demonstrations broke out in the wake of Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) immigration raids on Saturday, June 7.
Captioned simply with two emojis – a middle finger and an ice cube – the video shows footage from the protests, including a self-driving Waymo taxi set on fire tagged with “FUCK ICE”, as well as people appearing to be arrested and led away by authorities.
It’s soundtracked by Green Day’s recently released song ‘Fuck Off’, which was released last month as part of three new songs on Saviors (édition de luxe), an extended version of the band’s 2024 LP Saviors.
Its lyrics include: “Sucker, you’re a sucker / You’ve been suckered by hustlers and liars / You’re a liar / You’re so tired, so kindly just / Fuck off”.
The protests, which have mostly been centred around the city’s Downtown area, have led to US President Donald Trump deploy 2,000 National Guard troops, which has been opposed by California Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass.
Newsom called on Trump to “stop fanning the flames” and accused the President of “manufacturing a crisis”, as tensions flared amid “mostly peaceful” protests, according to Guardian reporting.
Protestors carried placards marked with slogans including: “Fuck ICE”, “National Guard LOL” and “No one’s illegal on stolen land”.
Tear gas was allegedly used against protestors, with singer and producer FINNEAS, who produces music with his sister Billie Eilish, saying that he was hit with tear gas while attending a protest on Saturday. On Sunday, he posted on his Instagram Stories: “Tear gassed almost immediately at the very peaceful protest downtown – they’re inciting this.”
Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) Chief Jim McDonnell claimed that police had been hit by rocks and shot towards with fireworks by protestors.
According to CBS News, over 2,000 arrests by ICE took place on Tuesday and Wednesday last week, as Trump’s crackdown efforts on undocumented migrants intensified, with over 100,000 detainees reported since the beginning of the President’s second term.
Isaac Muk is Huck’s digital editor. Follow him on Bluesky.
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