Rapper and singer Doechii won her first BET Award on Monday night and used the opportunity to condemn the Trump administration’s militarized response to protests happening nearby in downtown Los Angeles.
Over the weekend, Trump ordered National Guard troops to L.A. to quell protests over federal immigration raids, a dramatic escalation that local officials argue ignited the very chaos he claimed to be fixing. Trump then ordered another 2,000 troops on Monday night.
“I do want to address what’s happening right now, outside of the building,” the Grammy winner said onstage at the Peacock Theater in the city’s downtown area, where tensions between law enforcement and demonstrators ran high on Sunday.
Doechii calls out Donald Trump and ICE while accepting her trophy at the #BETAwards in Los Angeles pic.twitter.com/fTGyJ9nbAj
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) June 10, 2025
“There are ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities in the name of law and order,” the “Anxiety” singer continued. “Trump is using military forces to stop a protest, and 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.”
“People are being swept up and torn from their families, and I feel it is my responsibility as an artist to use this moment to speak up for all oppressed people,” she went on.
“For black people, for latino people, for trans people, for the people in Gaza. We all deserve to live in hope and not in fear, and I hope we’ll stand together, my brothers and my sisters, against hate.”
Doechii, whose legal name is Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon, was named Best Female Hip Hop Artist on Monday, beating out major names like Doja Cat, Latto, Nicki Minaj, and Megan Thee Stallion.
os Angeles saw continued protests across the city on Monday and an even further heightened military presence, after the Trump administration deployed Marines to join the National Guard troops that had already been called in.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is suing the Trump administration for federalizing the National Guard without his consent, calling it an “illegal takeover” of the California National Guard. He and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass have said that local authorities had the largely peaceful protests under control before Trump poured fuel on the fire over the weekend.
“This is beyond incompetence—this is him intentionally causing chaos, terrorizing communities, and endangering the principles of our great democracy. It is an unmistakable step toward authoritarianism. We will not let this stand,” Newsom said in a news release about the lawsuit on Monday.
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