Bruce Springsteen released a fiery protest song Wednesday dedicated to the memory of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two Minneapolis residents who were fatally shot by federal agents this month.
“Streets of Minneapolis,” which Springsteen wrote Saturday and recorded Tuesday, is a “response to the state terror being visited on the city,” he said in a post on Instagram. He added that the song is also for “the people of Minneapolis” and “our innocent immigrant neighbors.”
Daily life for residents in the Minnesota city has been upended in the weeks since 3,000 federal agents flooded the streets for an immigration crackdown operation.
The song, which is about four and a half minutes long, denounces U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and calls out Trump administration officials by name, including Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller and President Donald Trump himself.
“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,” Springsteen sings.
The song later continues: “Their claim was self defense, sir/ Just don’t believe your eyes/ It’s our blood and bones/ And these whistles and phones/ Against Miller and Noem’s dirty lies.”
In a statement to NBC News, White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said, “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.”
A representative for the Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Springsteen has long been a vocal critic of Trump, endorsing then-Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election and telling The Atlantic in 2020 that the twice-impeached president was a “threat to our democracy.” Last year, Springsteen opened his tour of the United Kingdom with stinging criticism of the Trump administration, accusing its officials of authoritarianism, rolling back civil rights and illegal deportations.
He’s also received backlash for his music’s messaging before, having drawn criticism from police in 2000 after releasing “American Skin (41 shots)” about the killing of Amadou Diallo by four police officers.
Since Pretti’s death Saturday, several other stars across the music, film, television and sports worlds have been using their social media pages to post in solidarity with anti-ICE protesters in Minnesota.
“ICEs actions are unconscionable but we are not powerless,” pop star Olivia Rodrigo, who previously slammed DHS for using her song “All-American Bitch,” wrote on her Instagram story. “Our actions matter. I stand with Minnesota.”
Artist Katy Perry, who has 201 million Instagram followers, shared a series of posts encouraging people to call their senators, writing “because it’s time to turn anger into action.”
Billie Eilish’s brother/collaborator Finneas, who has previously protested against ICE in Los Angeles, also spoke about the shootings in Minnesota in an Instagram post Sunday.
“The conservative argument that allows school shootings to continue has always basically boiled down to ‘we have to protect the Second Amendment’ … every argument I’ve seen of why Alexander Pretti’s death was justified yesterday is like ‘well he had a gun.’ Shut the f— up,” he said in a video. “You spent 30 years telling us children have to die so we’re allowed to legally carry weapons everywhere in the United States….you didn’t draw his weapon. He had a weapon on him, legally.”
Eilish later shared her brother’s post, and wrote in her own Instagram story: “hey my fellow celebrities u gonna speak up? or”
Springsteen had previously responded to the events unfolding in Minneapolis during a performance at the Light of Day Winterfest concert in Red Bank, New Jersey. Before he played his hit “The Promised Land,” he dedicated the song to Good’s memory, according to cellphone video from the performance shared by NJ.com.
In the video, Springsteen characterized federal law enforcement participating in the Trump administration’s crackdown as “heavily armed, masked federal troops invading an American city, using Gestapo tactics against their fellow citizens.” Springsteen also said he wrote the song “as an ode to American possibility” and added that the United States’ set of ideals and values is “being tested as it has never been in modern times.”
He told the crowd he hoped his message would reach Trump.
“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 f— out of Minneapolis,” Springsteen told a supportive home-state crowd, echoing the words of Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
Bruce Springsteen talks about his new album “Letter to You,” the first song he ever learned how to play and his early beginnings as a musician.
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