Bruce Springsteen has released an emotional new protest song, Streets Of Minneapolis, honouring the memory of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, who were shot and killed by ICE agents in the city.
The song comes as outrage continues to grow in the state and across America regards to the murder of Renee Nicole Good on January 7, and of Alex Pretti on January 24.
“I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis," Springsteen says in a statement accompanying the release. "It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free."
The first verse of the song runs:
"Through the winter’s ice and cold
Down Nicollet Avenue
A city aflame fought fire and ice
‘Neath an occupier’s boots
King Trump’s private army from the DHS
Guns belted to their coats
Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law
Or so their story goes
Against smoke and rubber bullets
By the dawn’s early light
Citizens stood for justice
Their voices ringing through the night
And there were bloody footprints
Where mercy should have stood
And two dead left to die on snow-filled streets
Alex Pretti and Renee Good"
Listen below:
Meanwhile, English singer-songwriter Billy Bragg has also released a song protesting events in Minneapolis. City Of Heroes begins by referencing Martin Niemöller, the German pastor famous for his initial silence and subsequent opposition during the rise of the Nazis in the 1930s.
"The murder of Alex Pretti was horrifically shocking," says Bragg. "All the more so as we are still reeling from the images of the murder of Renee Good. That these crimes can be committed in broad daylight, on camera and yet no one is held accountable only adds to the injustice."
A number of rock artists have spoken out against ICE and the Trump administration in the past week, including Rage Against The Machine man Tom Morello, who has just announced a benefit show in Minnesota. The Concert of Solidarity & Resistance will take place at First Avenue on January 30 and features Rise Against, Al Di Meola, Ike Reilly and special guests.
"If it looks like fascism, sounds like fascism, acts like fascism, dresses like fascism, talks like fascism, kills like fascism and lies like fascism, boys and girls, it’s fucking fascism,” Morello says. “It’s here, it’s now, it’s in my city, it’s in your city and it must be resisted, protested, defended against, stood up to, exposed, ousted, overthrown and driven out. By you and by me."
Yesterday, January 27, Randy Blythe, frontman of Lamb Of God, published a lengthy letter lambasting the Trump administration via his Substack. He references the “open moral collapse” of the US government and urges fans, “Fuck the fascists. Do not comply.”
On Monday, January 26, California post-hardcore band Thrice issued a statement condemning the killings and voicing solidarity with those protesting against ICE.
“We applaud and stand in solidarity [with] the patriots in the streets of Minneapolis who are exercising their first amendment rights in support of their neighbours and in defiance of an increasingly authoritarian regime, and we mourn those who have lost their lives at the hands of state violence,” the four-piece wrote. “ICE out!”
Earlier this month, Neil Young expressed his horror at the killing of Renee Good.
"This morning an ICE officer shot a woman in the face three times for no reason in Minneapolis," he wrote. "These ICE people do not operate like police. They are thugs. poor ID. Covered faces. Is ICE the new American Thug police?"
Young also called out President Trump for making America a "disaster", and called on US citizens to "rise up" in peaceful protests against his regime.
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