Bruce Springsteen Condemns ‘King Trump’s Private Army’ in ICE Protest Song Dedicated to Minneapolis

Bruce Springsteen has released a new song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” decrying President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in the Minnesota city.

The 20-time Grammy award-winner announced the release of the song in a Wednesday Instagram post and dedicated it “to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good,” who were fatally shot by federal agents less than three weeks apart. 

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“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,” Springsteen sings. “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.”

Good, a 37-year-old mother of three, was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer on Jan. 7 while attempting to drive away from a protest against the agency. Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was shot by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers on Jan. 24. Springsteen wrote the song the day Pretti was killed, he revealed.

“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,” the singer wrote.

White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson told multiple media in a statement following the song’s release that “the Trump Administration is 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.”

Read more: On Thin ICE in Minneapolis: How Trump’s Immigration Crackdown Sparked a Crisis of Trust

Springsteen has been a vocal critic of Trump since his first term and has called him the “most dangerous candidate for president in my lifetime.” The singer released a six- track live EP last year featuring performances in Manchester, England, including an introduction to the title song in which he said the U.S. was “in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration.”

Trump posted on Truth Social at the time that Springsteen “ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT” and called for the artist to be investigated.

In his newly released song, Springsteen alludes to the Administration’s claims that federal agents acted in self-defense when they shot Good and Pretti, with a lyric referencing White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s “dirty lies.”  

Following Saturday’s shooting, Miller referred to Pretti as a “would-be assassin.” Noem claimed the 37-year-old nurse was “brandishing” a gun and has contended that both Pretti and Good committed acts of “domestic terrorism.” Trump and other members of the Administration have similarly justified the shootings by asserting that Good and Pretti posed threats to the federal officers. Video of both incidents, however, contradicts federal officials’ accounts.

Springsteen also accuses the Administration of racially profiling in the song: “If your skin is black or brown, my friend / You can be questioned or deported on sight,” he sings. 

Read more: Bruce Springsteen’s Long Journey Home

The 76-year-old rock giant is one of several musicians who have publicly taken a stance against Trump’s immigration crackdown amid the growing backlash following the Minneapolis shootings. Pop star Billie Eilish took to social media following Good’s killing, and again after Pretti’s, asking other celebrities, “u gonna speak up?” Singer Olivia Rodrigo also lent her voice to the outcry, posting, “ICE’s actions are unconscionable but we are not powerless. Our actions matter. I stand with Minnesota .”  

Country star Zach Bryan, meanwhile, officially released a song of his own that includes lyrics critical of the Trump Administration’s immigration raids earlier this month. In the song, “Bad News,” Bryan sings, “And ICE is gonna come bust down your door / Try to build a house no one builds no more / But got a telephone / Kids are all scared and all alone.”

The song then makes reference to Springsteen—”the Boss”—himself, continuing, “The Boss stopped bumpin’, the rock stopped rolling / The middle finger’s rising and it won’t stop showing / I got somе bad news / The fading of the rеd, white and blue.” Bryan concludes the track with that same last line: “The fading of the red, white and blue.”

Springsteen’s own song ends with an outro featuring a call and response chant—”ICE out (ICE out)”—that repeats until the music fades.