While accepting the trophy for Best Female Hip Hop Act at the BET Awards last night (June 9), Floridian rapper Doechii dedicated her speech to the ongoing repression of protests against American Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents on the streets of Los Angeles.

The protests erupted last Friday (June 6) when Ice agents – who had already been granted unprecedented powers under President Trump – escalated their brutal crackdown on immigration, conducting mass search operations and arrests across the city of LA. Despite demonstrations against these draconian operations being wholly peaceful, tensions were further heightened on Saturday (June 7) when Trump deployed at least 2,000 National Guards to the city, which was then doubled yesterday (June 9). 

“I want to address what’s going on outside the building,” said Doechii on-stage at the BET Awards in LA’s Peacock Theatre, immediately met with applause from the crowd. “There are ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities in the name of law and order. Trump is using military forces to stop a protest. I want ya’ll 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? People are being swept up and torn from their families.”

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The former Dazed cover star then continued to extend her solidarity beyond the streets of LA. “I feel it’s my responsibility as an artist to use this moment to speak up for all oppressed people, for black people, for Latino people, for trans people, for the people in Gaza,” announced Doechii. “We all deserve to live in hope and not in fear. And I hope we stand together, my brothers and my sisters, against hate – and we protest against it.”

Meanwhile, US law enforcement continues to escalate its brutal repression of ICE protests. Yesterday, a reporter for Australia’s Channel Nine was struck by a rubber bullet fired by US authorities live on camera and, later, CNN’s Jason Carroll was detained by police while covering the protests. 

Elsewhere at the BET awards, Kendrick Lamar picked up honours for Album of the Year (GNX) and Best Male Hip Hop Act, while SZA was named Best Female R&B/Pop Artist, but Doechii was notably the only winner to mention the LA protests on-stage in her acceptance speech.