The Strokes Close Coachella Set with Video Denouncing U.S. Foreign Intervention

Key Points:

• The Strokes closed their second Coachella performance with a video montage condemning U.S. interference in foreign governments, highlighting CIA involvement in regime changes in countries like Chile, Bolivia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• The montage featured images of political leaders such as Mohammed Mossadegh, Juan Torress, and Salvador Allende, accusing the CIA of conspiring to overthrow them, and included a reference to a civil trial implicating the U.S. government in Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination.
• The video ended with footage of bombings in Gaza and Iran, attributing the attacks to Israel and the U.S., and showed the destruction of key infrastructure, including Gaza's last university.
• This political statement was absent from the Strokes' initial Coachella set, though frontman Julian Casablancas previously made a brief comment about the U.S. military draft during their first performance.
• The Strokes' actions follow a trend of artists using Coachella as a platform for political messages, with last year's rap trio Kneecap accusing the festival of censoring their pro-Palestine content.