Bruce Springsteen has released a protest song denouncing President Donald J. Trump and the “private army” of his Department of Homeland Security, in the wake of ICE’s killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minneapolis. Listen to “Streets of Minneapolis” below.
Springsteen shared the following statement:
The rallying full-band song memorializes Pretti and Good in verses that pull no punches on the crimes of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. “Trump’s federal thugs beat up on his face and his chest,” Springsteen sings. “Then we heard the gunshots, and Alex Pretti lay in the snow, dead.”
A stirring refrain closes the song:
Earlier this month, Springsteen dedicated a rendition of “The Promised Land” to Good during an impromptu appearance at a New Jersey festival, telling the crowd: “If you believe in democracy, in liberty; if you believe that truth still matters, and that it’s worth speaking out, and it’s worth fighting for; if you believe in the power of the law and that no one stands above it; if you stand against heavily armed, masked, federal troops invading American cities, and using Gestapo tactics against our fellow citizens; if you believe you don’t deserve to be murdered for exercising your American right to protest; then send a message to this president. And as the mayor of that city has said, ICE should get the fuck out of Minneapolis.”
Another impassioned speech in protest of Trump’s “corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous administration,” given last year at a show in Manchester, England, was captured on a live EP released a week later.