Tom Morello has once again stepped into the political spotlight, and for a very good reason. The Rage Against the Machine guitarist and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer publicly criticized the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Trump administration this week, alleging that a phrase used at a DHS press conference echoes a slogan tied to Nazi mass murder during World War II.
The controversy centers on the phrase "One of ours, all of yours," which appeared on the podium during a January 8, 2025 press conference led by Kristi Noem, the current U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security. The event addressed an ICE-involved shooting that murdered Renee Good.
On January 12, Morello shared an image of the podium on social media, condemning the phrase and linking it to a documented Nazi reprisal doctrine. "BREAKING: Today the Trump admin quoted the Nazi mass murder slogan, 'One of ours, all of yours,'" Morello wrote.
He described the phrase as originating from a World War II incident in which Nazi forces retaliated for the killing of an SS officer by executing male residents of the Czech town of Lidice and deporting women and children to concentration and extermination camps.
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum sums the incident up as such: "Beginning on the night of June 9–10, 1942, German police and SS officials destroyed the Czech town of Lidice in the Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (the German-occupied Czech lands). The Nazis destroyed Lidice as a reprisal action for the assassination and death of Reinhard Heydrich, a high-ranking Nazi leader. The Germans falsely claimed that two families from the town of Lidice were somehow connected to the assassins and the Czech resistance.
"In Lidice, the Germans shot the men of the town, and then deported most of the women and children. Next, they burned the town to the ground. They promised to obliterate the name of Lidice from the map of Europe."
In a follow-up post on X (formerly Twitter), Morello detailed the historical context at length, citing the execution of more than 170 men, the deportation of women to Ravensbrück, the murder of children at Chelmno, and the physical destruction of the village itself. He ended the post with a pointed question directed at supporters of the current administration: "YOU VOTED FOR THIS??"
Morello's remarks quickly drew attention across social media and political circles. When Billboard reached out for comment, a DHS representative dismissed the accusation, stating: "Calling everything you dislike 'Nazi propaganda' is tiresome. DHS will continue to use all tools to communicate with the American people and keep them informed on our historic effort to Make America Safe Again."
This is not the first time Morello has raised concerns about the rhetoric and imagery used by the Trump administration. In recent weeks, he has reposted multiple critiques on X alleging authoritarian or fascist undertones in government messaging. His opposition to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has been especially vocal over the past year, with the guitarist attending protests and participating in anti-ICE activism.
