The man who destroyed Donald Trump‘s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame has revealed that he was listening to Death Grips as he carried out the act.

Austin Clay took a pickaxe to the President’s star on the famous walkway back in July, with the assailant having carried the pickaxe to the location in a guitar case.

Clay has now recalled the incident in an interview with GQ, revealing such details as the music he chose to listen to while he was destroying Trump’s star.


“I bought a pickaxe at the Home Depot in Glendale,” he remembered. “I concealed it in a guitar case, and I went down to the star. I put on some headphones; I was listening to Death Grips, which is some high-energy, ridiculous music. It gave me the energy I needed to tear through the star.

“I’d heard from a lot of people that a sledgehammer was the right tool for the job, but the pickaxe worked. Rocks were flying up in my face. I wanted to obliterate the thing, because I thought that would be a statement: We’re removing him from the ground, we’re removing him from Hollywood, we’re removing him from California, we’re removing him from the United States.”

Clay also revealed that he was bailed out by an anonymous person just 24 hours after being arrested. He also spoke about a subsequent visit he received from the US Secret Service, who Clay claims “kind of thought [the incident] was funny”.

“I didn’t harm anyone; I didn’t commit a violent act. After we got to talking, one of [the Secret Service] gave me a high five,” he added.


Back in June, it was revealed that Death Grips had been working on new music with Andrew Anderson, who directed the original Shrek movie.