“Cop Killer” is a song by the Ice-T-fronted thrash metal group Body Count. Though often referred to as “rap rock,” the song is actually a pretty straightforward crossover thrash song, the only hip-hop element being the fact that Ice-T is better known as a rapper. The song first appeared as the title track on Body Count’s 1992 debut LP and details Ice-T’s fantasy of exacting revenge on the LAPD, specifically officers that victimize the Black population.

Pretty straightforward stuff, right? There’s a long, rich history of anti-police songs in popular culture, particularly in the hip-hop and hardcore punk worlds (someday I’ll make a totally sweet playlist of my favorites of these). Previously, the most famous was probably NWA’s “Fuck tha Police,” which earned the group a disapproving letter from the FBI (and which the group then cleverly used in promotional materials). By 1992, there were about a million anti-police songs. So why was there such a firestorm of controversy around “Cop Killer” specifically?

The answer is, almost certainly, the need for a distraction from the very real issues that the song brings up. In 1991, a Black motorist (Rodney King) was badly beaten by four LAPD officers following a high-speed chase (King had been driving under the influence). Sadly this wasn’t exactly unusual stuff, particularly with the notoriously racist LAPD. But this time it was captured on film (a relatively novel thing at the time). Public pushback led to a very public trial where three of the four officers were acquitted (and the fourth, while not acquitted, was not convicted). The acquittals sparked the 1992 LA riots, as well as greater public discourse about police brutality.

Now, far be it for me to call myself a conspiracy theorist, but it’s doesn’t seem like a coincidence that the vocal condemnation of “Cop Killer” by police groups (notably the Combined Law Enforcement Association of Texas, or CLEAT for short) immediately followed the riots and increased public scrutiny of the police. It seems like a pretty classic distraction technique, like “ignore all of these concerns about police brutality. Instead, listen to this HIGHLY OFFENSIVE SONG.” And it was quite successful. Both (HW) Bush and Quayle publicly condemned the song, as did several senators. There were calls for boycotts of (Body Count’s label’s parent company) Time Warner, and Time Warner shareholders threatened to divest.

At the peak of the controversy, none other than five-term NRA president (and Time Warner stockholder) Charlton Heston became a visible face for the boycott/divesting movement. On several occasions he attempted to build support by reading the lyrics to “Cop Killer” (and another Body Count song, “KKK B***h”). His deadpan, matter-of-fact readings are, to me, the height of unintentional comedy.

Unfortunately, the anti-“Cop Killer” movement was successful. Fearing that the controversy would bury his career, Ice-T voluntarily removed the song from the album (replacing it with a song called “Freedom of Speech” featuring Jello Biafra) and made the LP self-titled. He has now played a police officer on Law & Order: SVU for 24 years.

Why Heston’s reading isn’t sampled in every hip-hop song, I’ll never know. That pompous voice reading “die die die, pig, die.” It’s perfect. Do you make hip-hop beats in your spare time? Sample that fucker.