Billie Eilish has publicly urged high-profile figures to speak out about US immigration enforcement, amplifying a growing backlash against federal agents after two fatal shootings in Minneapolis this month and a wider crackdown by Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol.
In a post shared to her Instagram story, Eilish challenged what she described as silence from public figures as anger spread online over immigration raids and federal operations in Minnesota. “Where are all the celebrities? why is no one saying anything? why is no one angry?” she wrote, adding: “Silence is compliance.”
Eilish’s message came as protests and political tensions escalated following the killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old intensive care nurse who worked for the US Department of Veterans Affairs, shot and killed by Border Patrol agents during a protest in Minneapolis on Saturday morning. The death of Pretti was the second fatal shooting involving federal immigration agents in the city in January, after Renée Nicole Good was shot and killed in her vehicle on 7 January, also during an enforcement operation, according to reporting and official accounts.
The shootings have become a flashpoint in national arguments over immigration policy, the scope of federal law enforcement powers, and the use of force at protests. Video circulated online in the hours after Pretti’s death, with witnesses and family members disputing the government’s early portrayal of events. Federal officials, meanwhile, defended the agents involved and described Pretti as a threat.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, responding to questions about the language used by administration officials, said at a briefing that: “When you perpetuate violence against a government because of ideological reasons and for reasons to resist and perpetuate violence, that is the definition of domestic terrorism.”
Eilish’s intervention focused less on the details of the Minneapolis incidents and more on what she said was a broader pattern of quiet from influential people who could shift attention. Her message was framed as a direct appeal to entertainers, creators and public figures to use their platforms, as public commentary on the shootings and on immigration enforcement broadened beyond legal and political circles and into pop culture.
Her brother and longtime collaborator, Finneas O’Connell, has also spoken out in unusually blunt terms in a social media video addressing gun policy arguments and the circumstances of Pretti’s death. In an Instagram reel referenced in coverage, O’Connell told conservatives: “Shut the f— up!”
In the same video, he criticised what he characterised as a familiar defence used in US gun debates. “The conservative argument that allows school shootings to continue has always basically boiled down to we have to protect the Second Amendment. We have to allow people to carry weapons,” he said. “Every argument I’ve seen for why Alex Pretti’s death was justified yesterday is like, ‘Well, he had a gun.’ Shut the f— up!”
O’Connell went further, arguing that video and witness accounts showed Pretti did not draw his weapon. “This guy was being beaten to a pulp on the ground. He didn’t draw his weapon,” he said. “He had a weapon on him legally, and they shot the f— out of him and killed him. So shut the f— up!”
The shootings have spurred a wave of reactions online, including from witnesses who say their accounts do not match official descriptions. One witness told People that Pretti was “trying to help a woman” when agents killed him, disputing claims that he was aggressive or posed a threat, and describing a scene in which agents used force and pepper spray during a confrontation.
Eilish, who has often avoided daily political commentary but has been publicly active during major national moments, has in recent years encouraged young people to vote and has aligned herself with causes including climate advocacy and issues affecting women. Her latest comments, however, were sharply focused on immigration enforcement and the public response to it, reflecting an apparent frustration that the story was not generating the same broad celebrity attention as other national controversies.
Her post circulated widely beyond Instagram, prompting supportive reactions from some users and criticism from others who argued that entertainers should not intervene in political issues. That divide has become familiar in US cultural debates, particularly when celebrities comment on law enforcement actions, protests or policy disputes.
The Minneapolis shootings are also unfolding against a backdrop of heightened immigration operations that have drawn scrutiny from local officials and civil liberties advocates. The administration has argued that increased enforcement is necessary and has accused activists of interfering with federal agents, while opponents say the operations have created fear in immigrant communities and risk violent escalation when agents confront crowds or attempt arrests in public spaces.
Eilish’s message was notable in part because it was directed at her peers, not at politicians. By urging other public figures to speak up, she signalled that she viewed the situation as more than a policy dispute and as something demanding wider public pressure.
For Eilish and O’Connell, who built their careers in close collaboration and maintain a large global audience, the decision to amplify the Minneapolis cases places them among the most prominent musicians to address the unfolding controversy in real time.
Whether other major entertainers follow suit remains unclear. But the unusually direct language used by Eilish, and the anger in O’Connell’s video, reflect how quickly the deaths in Minneapolis have cut into the broader national conversation, turning a local confrontation into a polarising story about immigration, protest and the government’s use of force.
