Doechii criticizes the Trump administration’s aggressive tactics in LA during Ice raids | Protests in Los Angeles against Ice actions

At the BET awards ceremony on Monday, rapper Doechii delivered an impassioned plea for justice, condemning the Trump administration for deploying military forces against protesters in Los Angeles.

Receiving recognition as the best female hip-hop artist for her first BET award, Doechii also shed light on the immigration enforcement operations and crackdowns on protests occurring near the venue in Los Angeles.

Following her win, Doechii acknowledged her fellow nominees before turning attention to the unrest outside.

“Brutal attacks in the name of law and order are sowing fear and unrest in our communities,” spoke Doechii, who is one of the rare women to claim a Grammy for best rap album.

The BET awards took place amid rising tension in Los Angeles, subsequent to protest weekend over immigration enforcement on Friday, with numerous people taken into custody. In reaction to the protests, Donald Trump authorized an additional 2,000 national guard members, upping the total to over 4,100 in the city.

“Trump is dispatching military forces against a protest,” Doechii remarked during her speech. “Consider the kind of governance it portrays, where the military is deployed every time we exercise our right to protest. What kind of government is that?”

Her remarks were met with applause from the audience at the Peacock Theater, which was broadcasting the event live.

“Individuals are being swept away and separated from their families,” she added. “As an artist, I feel it’s my duty to speak out for all who are oppressed … We all deserve to live in hope, not fear. I hope we can stand together.”

Protest actions persisted in Los Angeles and across the United States, including New York, Chicago, Dallas, and San Francisco. In central Los Angeles on Monday, law enforcement were witnessed pushing hundreds of protesters through Little Tokyo as evening fell.

Uniformed officers, all appearing to be part of the Los Angeles police department, used flash bangs and shot projectiles into the crowd as they moved the protesters through a crowded, busy commercial area where onlookers and restaurant staff quickly cleared out. Some protesters retaliated with fireworks and threw water bottles at police, shouting “Shame!” and chanting “ICE out of LA”.

California’s leaders have decried Trump’s actions as provocative. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass denounced the deployment of national guard and marine troops as a “calculated effort” by the Trump administration to “sow disorder and chaos in our city”.

“It feels as if we are part of an experiment we didn’t sign up for,” Bass stated on Monday.