Those Fascist Social Media Posts by DHS Have a Copyright Problem

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has spent recent months posting unhinged propaganda from ICE videos featuring Bible quotes to historic paintings about Manifest Destiny. Some of the images and videos posted to social media appear to use intellectual property for which DHS didn’t obtain the rights, including audio from the 2022 film The Batman. And now at least one rights holder is speaking up about it.

The estate of the late painter Thomas Kinkade, who died in 2012, has posted a statement to its website about the use of “Morning Pledge,” a painting the official DHS account posted earlier this month with the caption “Protect the Homeland.”

“On July 1st, the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted a photo on their social media accounts accompanied by a Thomas Kinkade Studios painting. The use of his artwork was unauthorized, and we have requested that DHS remove the post, and we are consulting with our counsel on our options,” the foundation wrote.

Protect the Homeland.

“Morning Pledge” by Thomas Kinkade pic.twitter.com/JLs26R3VlO

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 1, 2025

The statement continued to say that the Kinkade Family Foundation strongly condemns the sentiment of the post as well as “the deplorable actions that DHS continues to carry out.” The sentiment, of course, is that America must return to a mythologized past that’s more white. At least that’s how commenters on X clearly saw it.

“Like many of you, we were deeply troubled to see this image used to promote division and xenophobia associated with the ideals of DHS, as this is antithetical to our mission,” the statement reads. “We stand firmly with our communities who have been threatened and targeted by DHS, especially our immigrant, BIPOC, undocumented, LGBTQ+, and disabled relatives and neighbors.”

The official DHS account has also recently shared a painting by Morgan Weistling with the caption “Remember your Homeland’s Heritage.” The account misidentifies the painting as being titled “New Life in a New Land,” though it’s actually called “A Prayer for a New Life.” Wiestling hasn’t publicly commented on the use of his image by DHS.

Remember your Homeland’s Heritage.

New Life in a New Land – Morgan Weistling pic.twitter.com/nFL61Nljbw

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 14, 2025

Another painting used recently is no longer protected by copyright, but is no less controversial for the message it sends. The work is called “American Progress” by John Gast and is frequently used in history books to demonstrate the concept of Manifest Destiny, the belief that some settlers had in the 19th century that they were destined by God to colonize the American West.

The tweet was given the caption, “A Heritage to be proud of, a Homeland worth Defending.” As an expert who spoke with the Washington Post notes, it presents a “sanitized version of U.S. history” that fails to recognize the wholesale destruction of Indigenous communities when settlers moved west during the 19th century. Gast himself was an immigrant, adding another layer of irony to the post.

A Heritage to be proud of, a Homeland worth Defending.

American Progress – John Gast pic.twitter.com/agU6bl8TZ8

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 23, 2025

But it’s the DHS social media videos that are arguably even more disturbing than the paintings. And they could get DHS into some copyright trouble.

One video posted on Monday includes the caption, “TO EVERY CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIEN IN AMERICA: Darkness is no longer your ally. You represent an existential threat to the citizens of the United States, and US Border Patrol’s Special Operations Group will stop at nothing to hunt you down.” And aside from the verbose language, the imagery is quite disturbing when you remember what ICE is now doing on a daily basis.

TO EVERY CRIMINAL ILLEGAL ALIEN IN AMERICA:

Darkness is no longer your ally. You represent an existential threat to the citizens of the United States, and US Border Patrol's Special Operations Group will stop at nothing to hunt you down. pic.twitter.com/Ts4Cnjp70n

— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) July 28, 2025

The video shows men in tactical gear storming what appears to be a training building. The video also uses a voiceover from The Batman (2022), in which we hear Robert Pattinson read the line “They think I’m hiding in the shadows. But I am the shadows.”

The video also uses a bible quote projected on screen, Proverbs 28:1, which reads “The wicked flee when no man pursueth; but the righteous are bold as a lion.” The use of the passage appears to be an attempt to suggest that immigrants are fleeing when nobody is coming for them, which obviously makes no sense. ICE has waged a campaign of rounding up migrants without any criminal record, and these people do have folks pursuing them. Folks who often won’t even show their face or prove that they work for law enforcement.

It’s also rather ironic that just two verses later, the book of Proverbs seems to denounce precisely what the Trump regime is doing: “A ruler who oppresses the poor is like a driving rain that leaves no crops.” And just a few verses beyond that: “Better the poor whose walk is blameless than the rich whose ways are perverse.”

Another video posted to social media platforms like Facebook again uses a bible verse, along with a voiceover that says, “And I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Who shall I send, and who will go for us? And I said: Here am I; send me.”

The video also features the song “God’s Gonna Cut You Down” by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, featured in the Netflix series A Man in Full starring Jeff Daniels. It’s unclear whether DHS sought permission to use the song, but the version on Instagram currently reads, “This song is currently unavailable,” suggesting it was pulled due to copyright issues.

The Department of Homeland Security didn’t reply to Gizmodo’s questions about its fascist social media posts or its use of copyrighted material. We’ll update this article if we hear back, though the last time we interacted with ICE, an agency spokesperson sent us statistics that were clearly not grounded in reality. And when asked for proof of their claims about violence against ICE officers, they ignored those emails.