Pokémon lawyers won’t sue DHS for that video, former legal head predicts
We did not mock up these images; they're part of the DHS video. | Images: DHS / PokemonYesterday afternoon, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) posted a piece of disgusting propaganda that glorifies the concept of a militarized police state forcefully entering people's homes and businesses and leading them away in handcuffs and zip ties - all set to the classic Pokemon theme song and using numerous pieces of obviously copyrighted imagery from the 90s TV show.
There's no chance The Pokemon Company, notorious for protecting their family-friendly reputation and profits with legal action, would let that fly, right?
Gotta Catch Em All. pic.twitter.com/qCvflkJGmB
- Homeland Security (@DHSgov) September 22, 2025
Don't hold your breath: The Pokemon Company's former chief legal officer Don McGowan (who spent nearly 12 years there, as well as multi-year stints at Bungie and Microsoft) thinks there's no way that his former company would sue.
Even if I was still at the company I wouldn't touch this, and I'm the most trigger-happy CLO [Chief Legal Officer] I've ever met. This will blow over in a couple of days and they'll be happy to let it," he told IGN.
Why? One reason is that like some other executives Trump has previously and corruptly leveraged, some of The Pokemon Company's leaders personally depend on the US's good graces: Many of their execs in the USA are on green cards," he said. Another reason, he says, is that The Pokemon Company doesn't want the press.
More at IGN, and you can read a previous interview with McGowan at Aftermath.
As Kotaku points out, the DHS video may be showing off raids against significant criminals, but ICE is currently under fire for snatching up US citizens. The Supreme Court also recently cleared the way for ICE to stop people based on the color of their skin, the jobs they perform, and the language they speak.