Rage Against the Machine stormed the NYSE
As if the band's name wasn't a sufficient hint, Rage Against the Machine has always been deeply political. Even though some of their followers weren't aware of it, their music has been rather overtly political for years. The band actually produced a video on Wall Street that entailed shutting down the New York Stock Exchange, providing one very concrete illustration of their convictions.
The video for "Sleep Now in the Fire" was scheduled to be shot on the stairs outside of the exchange and was directed by filmmaker Michael Moore, who is no stranger to divisive political views. Tom Morello, the band's frontman, claims that they did have a permission for the steps but not the walkway. Moore also instructed them to move onto the sidewalk while they were recording. They did as instructed, then a policeman arrived and ordered them to retreat.
The band continued to play because Moore had instructed them to do so regardless of the situation. However, as it was a music video, they weren't actually performing. They were merely miming the actions as the music was being played. The cop attempted to unplug Morello's guitar, but to no avail. In the same way, he also turned off the bass and the drums.
The officer eventually detained Michael Moore after becoming frustrated and enraged, at which point Moore yelled for the band to take the exchange. Upon entering, Morello and his team informed the guards that they were there to take the exchange. Security activated an alert, called for riot police, and shut everything down as a result.
