Left-wing rocker Neil Young filed a lawsuit Tuesday against President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign, alleging it violated copyright laws by lacking the right to play his songs at his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Young’s suit said Trump campaign did not have a license to play “Devil’s Sidewalk” and “Rockin’ in the Free World” at the June 20th rally and has used his songs since the president’s first campaign in 2016.
“This complaint is not intended to disrespect the rights and opinions of American citizens, who are free to support the candidate of their choosing,” reads the complaint filed in New York City court, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “However, Plaintiff in good conscience cannot allow his music to be used as a ‘theme song’ for a divisive, un-American campaign of ignorance and hate.”
In June, the Rolling Stones threatened the Trump campaign with a lawsuit unless it stops playing its music during the president’s rallies.
Young’s legal action comes after the musician said that he had reversed his decision to sue President Trump, citing his decision to deploy federal agents to Democrat-run cities plagued by surging crime.
“There is a long history to consider and I originally considered it, deciding not to pursue. But then President Trump ordered thugs in uniform onto our streets,” the Grammy-winner wrote of his change of heart in a blog post. “He ordered this himself. This is all DJT. He told them to wear camouflage, use unmarked vehicles to take people away, innocent people peacefully protesting — their constitutional right as US citizens.”
In the same screed, Neil Young called for local police officers to arrest federal agents, denigrating them as “untrained thugs.”
“Our police should arrest these untrained thugs for breaking our laws. They have zero de-escalation training, a must have for the job they are mishandling, so they’re totally unqualified to be there,” the rocker wrote wrote.
The Canadian-born singer, who became an U.S. citizen earlier this year, has repeatedly bashed President Trump, referring to him as “a disgrace to my country” and has pledged to help defeat him in the November White House election.