Bruce Springsteen has hit out at ICE and the Trump administration, and dedicated a song to Renee Good, the American citizen who was fatally shot by an ICE agent earlier this month.
Bruce Springsteen has called out ICE for their “Gestapo tactics” and told them to “get the f*ck out of Minneapolis” during an appearance on stage in New Jersey this weekend.
The Boss, a longtime critic of Donald Trump and his administration, appeared at the Light Of Day Winter Festival on 17 January – an annual event that raises funds for Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. During his performance, he bemoaned what his country has become under Trump’s rule.
Introducing the song ‘The Promised Land’, he said: “I wrote this song as an ode to American possibility. It was about a both beautiful but flawed country that we are, and the country that we could be”.
“Right now, we are living through incredibly critical times. The United States, the ideals and the values for which it stood for the past 250 years, is being tested as it’s never been in modern times.”
Referring to recent news, he added: “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 an American city, using Gestapo tactics against our fellow citizens, if you believe you don’t deserve to be murdered for exercising your American right to protest, send a message to this president as the mayor of that city has said, ICE should get the fuck out of Minneapolis.”
He dedicated ‘The Promised Land’ to Renee Good, the 37-year-old American citizen who was fatally shot by an ICE agent on 7 January.
“This song is for you and the memory of a mother of three, American Renee Good.”
The killing of Good has triggered mass protests across the country, while Donald Trump and JD Vance have claimed that Good was trying to run over the agents with her car and that the officer was acting in self-defense.
Minnesota Governor Tim Walz urged the public not to fall for what he called the “propaganda machine”, while Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said in a press conference: “This was an agent recklessly using power that resulted in somebody dying, getting killed.”
“They're already trying to spin this as an action of self-defence,” Frey added. “Having seen the video myself, I want to tell everybody directly - that is bullsh*t.”
Frey called for federal agents to leave Minneapolis, declaring: “Get the f*ck out of Minneapolis.”
Springsteen, who has previously called for Trump to be impeached and said that he was “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous”, joins other celebrity voices who are protesting ICE and Trump’s administration.
Billie Eilish recently shared posts online calling ICE a “federally funded and supported terrorist group”, while Stranger Things’ Joe Kerry took to social media to hit out at Donald Trump for his lack of compassion in the wake of Good’s death.
At last week’s Golden Globe Awards, several actors could be seen wearing anti-ICE pins, including Mark Ruffalo, who blasted Trump as the “worst human being” during a red carpet interview.
“If we're relying on this guy's morality for the most powerful country in the world, then we're all in a lot of trouble,” Ruffalo told USA Today. “So this is for (Good). This is for the people in the United States who are terrorized and scared today. I know I'm one of them. I love this country. And what I'm seeing here happening is not America.”
