“I think we’re headed to some really ugly terrain”: Ice-T explains why he changed lyrics from Body Count’s Cop Killer to ‘ICE Killer’ last year, as government agency faces heightened backlash for 2026 killings

Body Count rapper Ice-T has explained why he changed the lyrics of the Grammy-winning band’s notorious single Cop Killer to ‘ICE Killer’ last summer, as United States Immigration And Customs Enforcement faces renewed backlash in 2026 for killing two people in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In a new interview with Variety, the frontman explains that he first changed the lyrics to the 1992 song, which was lambasted by multiple conservative groups and even then-US president George H.W. Bush when it first came out, on a whim during a Los Angeles show last July.

“I have political things I think about,” Ice explains. “Now when I did that, that didn’t happen just recently. It happened when we played in L.A. at the Warped Tour. When I was there, ICE was active out there. So it’s like, I’m in the midst of ICE raids and stuff like that, and I’m in front of an L.A. audience, and it just came out. I didn’t know I was gonna do it.”

He adds, “My brain just said, ‘Do ICE Killer.’ And it went over.”

ICE has come up against heightened criticism after federal agents killed two people in Minneapolis this month. On January 7, a masked agent shot and killed Renee Good, a 37-year-old American citizen, while she was behind the wheel of her car. The killing led to enormous protests in the city and a defiant speech from Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who told ICE to “get the fuck out of our city”.

On January 22, another 37-year-old US citizen, local nurse Alex Pretti, was shot and killed by an ICE agent, after six agents had wrestled him to the ground. Despite the international controversy around both killings, President Donald Trump’s administration has stood behind ICE and attempted to characterise both Good and Pretti as domestic terrorists.

Reflecting on recent events, Ice tells Variety, “I think we’re headed to some really ugly terrain. And Black people really ain’t got nothing to do with it. It’s bad. I think the moment somebody shoots an ICE agent, it’s gonna get bad.”

He also urges his fellow musicians not to sing songs about social issues if they’re just doing it for “publicity”. “Don’t do it for hype. Don’t let your publicist tell you, ‘Speak on this topic.’ Because if you’re not educated enough to speak on it, you’re going to end up caught out there.”

Newsweek reported earlier this week that ICE is “beginning to scale back [its] presence in Minnesota” after the Good and Pretti killings, with some agents expected to start leaving the state as early as Tuesday (January 27). Frey posted on X (formerly Twitter), “The president agreed that the present situation can't continue.”

Ice is far from the only heavy metal musician to have spoken out against ICE. Over the weekend, former Isis singer/guitarist Aaron Turner released a t-shirt that depicted the word ‘no’ in block lettering made to resemble ice, with proceeds going towards vulnerable Minneapolis families. Metalcore pioneers Converge endorsed the piece of merch.

Members of Thrice, Letlive and Lamb Of God have also spoken out this week. Lamb Of God singer Randy Blythe published a scathing Substack post attacking the Trump administration on Tuesday. “Wake up, motherfuckers – business as usual is done,” he wrote.