Music

Neil Young calls ICE the 'new American thug police' in scathing post

The Canadian musician took aim at the Trump administration on his website.

The Canadian musician took aim at the Trump administration on his website

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Neil Young on stage with his guitar. He wears a grey sweater and black hat.
In Young's new posts, he writes that ICE are 'thugs.' (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Folk/rock superstar Neil Young has penned new op-eds on his website about U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Trump administration following the fatal shooting of Renee Nicole Good.

On Jan. 8, Young published a piece titled "America Where Have We Gone?" and wrote that an ICE officer "shot a woman in the face three times for no reason in Minneapolis" and that ICE does "not operate like police."

"Is ICE the new American thug police?" he wrote.

The same day, Young wrote another post titled "Another Day," writing that the U.S. is a "disaster."

"Donald Trump is destroying America bit by bit with his staff of wannabes, people with no experience or talent, closet alcoholic wife beaters, inexperienced leaders who only know how to lie to keep favour with Trump’s falseness so they can hold their unearned positions in his inept government, a Congress full of Republicans acting like idiots with no conscience." he wrote.

"He has divided us," he continued. "How did we elect these creeps who have no spin, no values, no conscience, no way to save the U.S.A."

He published a third post, "Trump Wants Chaos On the Streets. Who Is ICE? What Qualifications Do They Have?," and shared: "In my opinion ICE is trying to cause chaos in America to justify canceling elections."

It is not the first time Young has shared his opinions about Trump. Last year, he shared a new song, Big Crime, about the president and his administration. The song included lyrics such as "There's big crime in D.C. at the White House."

WATCH | The official video for Big Crime:

In 2015, Young filed a lawsuit against Trump for using the song Rockin' In the Free World in his presidential campaign, and in 2020 Young endorsed Bernie Sanders for president and said Trump was "a disgrace to my country."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Natalie Harmsen

Associate producer, CBC Music

Natalie is a Toronto-based journalist with CBC Music. Her interests lie at the intersection of music and popular culture, as she has written stories on the history of cursive singing, the rise of stomp-clap-hey music, the lucrativeness of rap beefs and more. She also presents a bi-weekly column on the songs you need to hear on CBC Radio's Here and Now.

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