By Derrick Bryson Taylor New York Times
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Doechii accepted the BET award for best female hip-hop artist Monday night, but instead of using her acceptance speech as a victory lap, the rapper criticized President Donald Trump for deploying the military against protesters in Los Angeles.

“There are ruthless attacks that are creating fear and chaos in our communities in the name of law and order,” Doechii said, pointing to ongoing protests over Trump’s immigration policies. “Trump is using military forces to stop a protest.” The 25th Annual BET Awards were held downtown at the Peacock Theater.

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The protests began Friday when federal agents searched the city’s garment district for workers whom they suspected were immigrants living in the country without legal permission. The action was part of the Trump administration’s new focus on raiding workplaces.

Demonstrations continued over the weekend. Though mostly peaceful, there have been scattered protests that became violent, prompting authorities to make about 150 arrests and in some cases to use tear gas and crowd-control munitions against protesters. Trump, calling the protesters “insurrectionists,” mobilized the National Guard, a step Gov. Gavin Newsom has said was “purposefully inflammatory” and intended to create a spectacle.

By Monday, the protests had turned calmer, but Trump doubled the number of deployed California Guard troops to 4,000 and ordered a battalion of 700 Marines to the city.

Several hours before the awards ceremony began, a spokesperson for BET said the network was working with the Los Angeles Police Department and monitoring the situation for safety reasons, CNN reported. The show went on despite the administration’s escalation of the federal response to the demonstrations.

Doechii, who beat out Cardi B, Doja Cat, GloRilla, Latto, Megan Thee Stallion, Nicki Minaj, Rapsody and Sexyy Red, continued her acceptance speech by asking the audience to consider why the government would deploy the military against its people who exercise their constitutional right to protest. She also criticized the Trump administration’s raids on workplaces and aggressive deportation policies.

“People are being swept up and torn from their families, and 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,” she said. “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.”

Her speech drew applause from the audience and was in stark contrast to the Tony Awards on Sunday night, where Trump was barely mentioned — an unexpected turn for a ceremony that often features more political commentary from its winners and presenters.

Doechii, who over the last year has experienced a meteoric rise to the top of hip-hop, in February became the third woman to win a Grammy for best rap album, for “Alligator Bites Never Heal.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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