Pop star Halsey was among the thousands of people who took to the streets of Los Angeles this past weekend to protest the death of George Floyd while in police custody.
“A true patriot is someone who will rebel against the government if it becomes necessary, to protect the greater good of their fellow citizens,” the singer tweeted on Sunday. “We are patriots. If you are not, you are a coward. THIS is what democracy looks like.”
Halsey, who was joined by British singer Yungblud, reported that members of the U.S. National Guard and police officers were “firing rounds into kneeling crowds.” She tweeted: “I was treating injuries I am not qualified to. So much blood spilled.”
The “Without You” singer said she saw a man “who looked like his entire face had exploded” after being hit with a rubber bullet. “So before you say, from the comfort of your home, that we’re exaggerating, please consider the injuries some have suffered,” she wrote on Twitter.
Halsey said Yungblud (aka Dominic Harrison) “literally ran exposed in front of rounds being shot to drag wounded people to safety without even thinking twice.”
Yungblud tweeted that Halsey was "incredible today. u acted fearlessly and selflessly. u were so brave and inspirational. when innocent people were unlawfully wounded, u were there with a medical kit bandaging them up. u didn’t think about yourself for one moment. i am proud to know u."
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Halsey said she was hit by a rubber bullet during Saturday’s demonstrations. “we did not breach the line,” she tweeted. “hands were up. unmoving. and they gassed and fired.”
In an Instagram Story, she showed a bruise on her leg. “This hit me through layers of fabric and for that, I am extremely privileged. At close range it would have caused serious injury. They were fired at peoples’ faces during peaceful moments of the demonstration.”
Halsey insisted she was not arrested. “Im safe … Myself + many of my peers were shot, gassed + antagonized,” she tweeted on Saturday. “The frontline was calm + did not provoke.”
Yungblud tweeted on Sunday: "they will fight with violence, we will fight with our words, unity and peace. and we will win."