Band MGMT Forces DHS to Remove Song from ICE Recruitment Video

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been compelled to remove MGMT’s hit song “Little Dark Age” from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) recruitment video following a copyright takedown request from the band.

The controversial video, posted by DHS on October 23, depicted federal agents arresting protesters outside an ICE facility in Portland, Oregon. It carried the caption: “End of the Dark Age, beginning of the Golden Age,” a reference that appeared to repurpose the song’s title for the agency’s messaging.

MGMT swiftly responded with a statement on Instagram: “MGMT is aware of ‘Little Dark Age’ being featured in a propaganda video by the Department of Homeland Security and has issued a takedown request for the unauthorized use of their music.”

Following the band’s intervention, DHS deleted the video entirely from its X (formerly Twitter) account, though a version without the song reportedly remained on Instagram. As of Saturday night, both the video and song were still accessible on DHS’s Bluesky account.

The situation represents a significant clash between artistic intent and government messaging. MGMT, formed in 2002 by Andrew VanWyngarden and Benjamin Goldwasser, has previously revealed that “Little Dark Age” was written as a direct response to Donald Trump’s 2016 election victory. “Apparently we were more inspired to write pop music after evil took over the world,” VanWyngarden told Rolling Stone in 2018.

This context makes the song’s use in a government recruitment video particularly controversial, a fact not lost on the band’s fans who voiced their discontent before the song was removed. “MGMT would never support this,” wrote one fan on the DHS Instagram post. “Please do not use their music to push your disturbing and hateful narrative.”

Another fan pointed out the incongruity: “The irony is that little dark age is about how s*** like this is bad.”

The incident highlights an ongoing tension between artistic expression and government messaging. The song’s journey is particularly notable, as “Little Dark Age” has experienced a complex cultural trajectory since its 2017 release. According to the UK’s Institute for Strategic Dialogue, the track was later co-opted by far-right groups and became “by far the most popular Sound among extremist creators on TikTok” after becoming part of a viral trend on the platform in 2021.

This isn’t the first time DHS has faced copyright issues over unauthorized music use in promotional content. The department was recently forced to remove another social media post that inappropriately used The Cure’s “Friday I’m in Love.” Earlier in the summer, DHS also had to take down content that incorporated Jay-Z’s “Public Service Announcement” in ICE recruitment materials.

These repeated incidents underscore the challenges government agencies face when attempting to leverage popular culture for recruitment purposes, particularly when the artists’ intended messages and political stances directly contradict the government’s agenda.

For MGMT, the takedown request represents a clear boundary-setting regarding how their creative work can be used, especially by government entities whose policies the band may oppose. The incident also demonstrates how musical works with specific political origins can be recontextualized—sometimes against their creators’ wishes—in ways that contradict their original meaning.