Anti-Flag Post New Lyric Video Addressing Drone Strikes, Comment on Unrest in Baltimore

Anti-Flag have just released a lyric video for their song "Sky Is Falling" off their upcoming album American Spring, out May 26 on Spinefarm Records. The leftist Pittsburgh punk quartet posted the video to express its concerns over the killing of civilians by drone strikes ordered by the Obama administration.

A statement from the band's publicist reads as follows:

In the wake of recent events, where an American and an Italian citizen were killed by drone strikes, the song arrives at a critical time in the current government administration. While the media has spent a significant amount of time covering the jokes that were made at the White House Correspondents' Dinner over the weekend, many Americans remain appalled by what happened in the Middle East, which is why "Sky Is Falling" is such an important song and an even more crucial political statement.

The band then jumps in:

We release this song and video days after President Obama apologized for a drone strike that inadvertently killed an American and an Italian being held captive by al Qaeda in Pakistan. President Obama did the right thing by apologizing to the victims and their families.  But otherwise, his apologies fall short of the target.

We call on President Obama to extend his apologies to victims of U.S. drone strikes who do not hold U.S. and European passports. Furthermore, we demand an end to the U.S. drone program.

There are countless innocent victims, families and communities whose lives have been devastated by illegal, out of control, and unaccountable U.S. drone strikes. This onslaught of aggression is sold to the American people as a surgical strike program that combats terrorism and makes the U.S. safer, when its net total result is neither.

During the Vietnam War, U.S. soldiers were under orders to win over the hearts and minds of the Vietnamese people while simultaneously ordered to burn down their villages. For obvious reasons, this policy was a failure. U.S. drone policy is no different, turning innocent people who would otherwise not be in opposition to America against the U.S.

This policy is immoral, unethical and unproductive. Amnesty International has questioned the legality of the U.S. drone program in relation to international law.

This song focuses on the fact that dropping bombs on people's heads is terror, regardless of who is dropping those bombs. Be it a high tech U.S. drone firing munitions without warning or a suicide bomber detonating an explosive vest without warning, instruments of terror are those that keep a civilian population on edge due to the constant threat of attack.

Read what Amnesty International is saying about drones and get involved.

In the same statement, the band also commented on the escalating unrest in Baltimore in the wake of Freddie Gray's death while in police custody. "Drone strikes are an example of the powerful victimizing the powerless. In light of the uprising in Baltimore, we stand on the side of the people," Anti-Flag state. "From Pakistan to Baltimore, Anti-Flag stand in solidarity with those being victimized by the powerful."

Anti-Flag have confirmed a new batch of May and June dates that will keep them on the road up to and beyond the the release of American Spring.

Anti-Flag 2015 Tour
May 9: Pittsburgh, Pa. -- The Smiling Moose

With The Homeless Gospel Choir and War On Women:
May 14: Newport, Ky. -- South Gate House
May 15: St. Louis, Mo. -- FUBAR
May 17: Kansas City, Mo. -- The Record Bar
May 18: Des Moines, Iowa -- Wooly's
May 19: Omaha, Neb. -- Slowdown
May 20: Ft. Collins, Colo. -- Aggie Theatre
May 21: Denver, Colo. -- Marquis Theater
May 23 Las Vegas, Nev. -- Punk Rock Bowling

With The Homeless Gospel Choir and After the Fall:
June 18 Syracuse, N.Y. -- Lost Horizon
June 19 Providence, R.I. -- Simon's 677
June 20 S. Burlington, Vt. -- Higher Ground
June 21 Portland, Maine -- Port City Music Hall
June 23: Buffalo, N.Y. -- The Waiting Room
June 24 Toledo, Ohio -- Frankies
June 25 Columbus, Ohio -- The Basement
June 26 Grand Rapids, Mich. -- The Intersection
June 27: Erie, Pa. -- Basement Transmission