Bruce Springsteen releases Minneapolis protest song, sings ‘ICE out now!’
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In the new song, Bruce Springsteen sings of the immigration crackdown in Minnesota.
PHOTO: AFP
MINNEAPOLIS – American singer Bruce Springsteen on Jan 28 released a protest song honouring Mr Alex Pretti and Ms Renee Good, two Minneapolis residents killed in what he called the “state of terror” visited on the city by US President Donald Trump’s aggressive immigration raids.
Springsteen, 76, said he wrote Streets Of Minneapolis on Jan 24, the day Mr Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was shot dead by US Customs and Border Protection agents
Ms Good, 37, a mother of three, was shot dead by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent on Jan 7
“It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbours and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good,” the singer wrote in a social media post.
In Streets Of Minneapolis, he sings of the immigration crackdown in the Minnesota city where residents like Mr Pretti and Ms Good have followed federal agents to record their operations and confront officers. The song lauds Minnesotans for resisting “smoke and rubber bullets” and using “whistles and phones” against “Miller and Noem’s dirty lies”.
Mr Stephen Miller is Mr Trump’s Homeland Security Adviser and Ms Kristi Noem is US Secretary of Homeland Security.
A chorus joins him on the line, “ICE out now!”
Following Mr Pretti’s shooting, Ms Noem said Mr Pretti had brandished a gun and Mr Miller called him an “assassin” who tried to murder federal agents. Both claims were disproved by bystander videos
In a statement, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said Mr Trump’s administration was “focused on encouraging state and local Democrats to work with federal law enforcement officers on removing dangerous criminal illegal aliens from their communities – not random songs with irrelevant opinions and inaccurate information”.
Springsteen has been a critic of Mr Trump in both his terms.
Known by his fans as “The Boss”, the rocker has also written songs that critique mistreatment of veterans and the working class. His 2001 track American Skin (41 Shots) attacks police brutality and racism, and was inspired by the killing of immigrant Amadou Diallo by New York police.
His latest song ends with the refrain, “we’ll remember the names of those who died on the streets of Minneapolis”, and the sounds of protesters chanting. REUTERS
