“My intent was that those representatives for the licensing, distribution and publishing of the record should have the benefit of knowing the facts of police violence,” he said.
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“It is completely against the American tradition of free speech and government non-interference for government agencies to criticize art, because such criticism carries with it an implied threat.”īut Ahlerich maintained that no threat, implied of otherwise, was intended. “It is completely inappropriate for any government agency to try to influence what artists do,” said Goldberg, who is also president of Gold Mountain Entertainment. I believe my views reflect the opinion of the entire law enforcement community.”ĭanny Goldberg, chairman of the Southern California affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union and a recording industry executive, said the FBI letter overstepped the bounds between government and the arts. The letter concluded: “I wanted you to be aware of the FBI’s position relative to this song and its message. They have the authority to kill a minorityĪnd when I finish, there’s gonna be a bloodbath, of cops in L.A.Īhlerich said he had not heard the whole song, but had read lyrics which had been sent to him by concerned law enforcement officials. The song was written by group member Ice Cube and is on N.W.A’s 1-million-selling debut album “Straight Outta Compton.” It includes lyrics such as:
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Members of the group also relate a series of threats and violent fantasies about retaliating against the police. The song-set in a mock courtroom where members of the group act as judge and prosecutors-is peppered with lewd and vulgar language punctuating a string of grievances about police misconduct in Compton.
Though he did not mention any song by name in the letter, Ahlerich told The Times that he was refering to “- Tha Police,” N.W.A’s brutal account of tension associated with the police gang sweeps that have become common in the Los Angeles area. and recordings such as the one from N.W.A are both discouraging and degrading to these brave, dedicated officers.” The FBI representative then recounted that 78 law enforcement officers were “feloniously slain in the line of duty during 1988. In the one-page letter, which surfaced last week after New York-based rock journalist Dave Marsh spoke of it during an anti-censorship rally in Washington, Ahlerich wrote: “Advocating violence and assault is wrong, and we in the law enforcement community take exception to such action.”
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