Under Donald Trump, the Department Of Homeland Security has taken to kidnapping working people and shipping them to remote black-site jails, where they are often allowed no legal rights. On its social media channels, the agency has also been posting videos of heroic soldiers rampaging through streets and arresting people, attempting to depict its agents as tough protectors rather than unaccountable public menaces. In a recent Instagram post, the DHS used a recording from the long-running San Francisco rock trio Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, and the band is not happy about it.
Last year, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club recorded an ominous version of "God's Gonna Cut You Down," the folk traditional sometimes known as "Run On," for the Netflix miniseries A Man In Full. Earlier this week, the Department Of Homeland Security used BRMC's version of the song to soundtrack one of its reprehensible Instagram videos. The agency evidently did not get permission from the group. In a press release and an Instagram post yesterday, BRMC ordered the Department to cease and desist the use of their song, and they added, "Go fuck yourselves." (They actually wrote, "Go f... yourselves.") Here's their statement:
Date: July 10, 2025
To: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
From: Black Rebel Motorcycle ClubIt has come to our attention that the Department of Homeland Security is improperly using our recording of “God's Gonna Cut You Down” in your latest propaganda video. It is obvious that you don’t respect Copyright Law and Artist Rights any more than you respect Habeas Corpus and Due Process rights, not to mention the separation of Church and State per the US Constitution.
For the record, we hereby order DHS to cease and desist the use of our recording and demand that you immediately pull down your video.
Oh, and go f... yourselves,
-BRMC
UPDATE: Metallica don’t want to soundtrack the federal government’s social media videos either…
