Halsey has made a series of posts detailing her experience with police at the Los Angeles George Floyd protest, including an injury she received from being hit with a rubber bullet.
The singer attended the Black Lives Matter rally with Yungblud on Saturday (May 30). She live-streamed parts of the protest, including encounters with police. Yesterday, she took to social media to clarify she was not arrested and is safe, but many others aren’t.
I WAS NOT ARRESTED.
Im safe. There were ppl I had to get to safety as many of them have VISAs. Myself + many of my peers were shot, gassed + antagonized. The frontline was calm + did not provoke
BUT MANY ARE NOT SAFE + MANY ARE IN CUSTODY
DONATE TO BAIL ORGS!!!
I AM CURRENTLY— h (@halsey) May 31, 2020
“[The police] fired rubber bullets at us. We did not breach the line. Hands were up. Unmoving. And they gassed and fired,” Halsey posted with photos of the altercation.
fired rubber bullets at us. we did not breach the line. hands were up. unmoving. and they gassed and fired. pic.twitter.com/K8YauF0APn
— h (@halsey) May 31, 2020
“This hit me through layers of fabric and for that, I am extremely privileged. At close range it would have caused serious injury,” she wrote on a recent, since-expired Instagram story, cited by Stereogum.
“They were fired at peoples’ faces during peaceful moments of the demonstration. If you’re a follower of mine who ‘stays out of it’ but you’re mad I have a little bruise for doing nothing unlawful, then consider you ARE on our side. Because the reality of what happens to black folks everyday is worse than my bruise. So get involved. Sign. Donate. Share links. Do something.”
Halsey has compiled a list of organisations that support the Black Lives Matter movement, and is encouraging fans to donate within their means. On the day of posting (May 29) she stated her “initial contributions” are USD$100,000.
On Thursday (May 28), Halsey made a passionate Instagram post with a photo of George Floyd and links to both protest his death to state government and a memorial Go Fund Me page. In the caption she said, “if you have family and friends privileged enough to ‘stay away from this kind of news’ then take that fucking privilege away.”
A Twitter thread from the same day saw the singer calling out celebrities for “choosing to be silent” because “a brand is more important and they want to keep pocketing the money of racists.”
There are no “contracts” keeping celebs on American soil from speaking up about this. They are just choosing not to because a brand is more important and they want to keep pocketing the money of racists. Fuck all of em. Idc.
— h (@halsey) May 28, 2020
Halsey is continuing to protest. This morning (June 1), she tweeted: “Santa Monica I’m here I have medical supplies lots of it. They are masking.”