Source: Politics<\/p>\n
A man who faces charges for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection now makes music on Spotify, and his latest release \u2014 which included a string of violent references to former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden \u2014 was removed by the music streaming platform Monday, three weeks after its debut.<\/p>\n
John Sullivan, who uses the alias \u201cJayden X\u201d when making music, released the song \u201cAmericas Finest Hour\u201d on Jan. 24. In the vulgarity-laced track, Sullivan rapped about America\u2019s political divide and forcefully rebuked Trump, even claiming to be \u201ctrying to end [Trump\u2019s] life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The song was removed Monday night after POLITICO requested a comment from Spotify. A spokesperson said the song violated the company’s content policies.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think America\u2019s suicidal. In fact, I\u2019m a little homicidal myself,\u201d Sullivan raps on the track.<\/p>\n
\u201cFuck you and fuck Trump and fuck all his racist ass supporters,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n
Unlike many of the rioters on Jan. 6 who appear to support Trump or back right-wing organizations, Sullivan is an activist for left-leaning causes. In 2020, he made headlines for his involvement in a number of Black Lives Matter protests that turned violent, including one in Provo, Utah, in which a motorist was shot<\/a>. Rudy Giuliani and others pointed to Sullivan\u2019s involvement in the Jan. 6 riot to bolster the conspiracy that antifa, not Trump supporters, were behind the attack.<\/p>\n But many left-leaning groups, including the Black Lives Matter organization in Sullivan\u2019s home state, have denounced Sullivan<\/a> as a \u201cloose cannon\u201d and an \u201cuntrustworthy opportunistic liar.<\/a>\u201d During the summer of 2020, Sullivan bolstered his self-proclaimed \u201cactivist-slash-journalist\u201d profile by participating in Black Lives Matter protests across the West, filming on-the-ground footage and posting it on YouTube.<\/p>\n On Jan. 6, Sullivan captured nearly 40 minutes of footage during the Capitol attack, which he subsequently sold to NBC, CNN and other news outlets for over $90,000. Sullivan says he was acting as a journalist, but he had no credentials and was subsequently charged with a bevy of criminal acts, including civil disorder and violent entry. He said that federal authorities confiscated the money he earned from the Capitol footage<\/a>, which included a video of Ashli Babbitt\u2019s death.<\/p>\n Sullivan first published music to Spotify in September 2021, and his growing musical portfolio includes more than 30 songs, most of which are relationship or Christmas-themed. He said the new song, in which he called himself \u201chomicidal\u201d and suggested violence toward Trump, was not to be taken literally.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018End his life\u2019 is hyperbole for \u2018you belong to rot in jail with all the other people you plotted and planned the coup attempt with,\u2019\u201d Sullivan said in a phone interview Monday, hours before the song was removed. \u201cSo I’m trying to end his life, metaphorically, in terms of his Mar-a-Lago, roaming-free life.\u201d<\/p>\n The other references to violence, Sullivan claimed, were a hyperbolic representation of America\u2019s political climate, in which the country is \u201cfalling apart\u201d and Americans are \u201ckilling each other in the political arena,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Sullivan\u2019s song also included a reference to Biden, mocking the president\u2019s stutter and implying that his handling of the Russia-Ukraine conflict could lead to the United States\u2019 demise.<\/p>\n Spokespeople for the White House and Trump did not respond to requests for comment on the song and its removal from Spotify.<\/p>\n