Springsteen Wrote a Song the Day Pretti Was Killed. ‘Streets of Minneapolis’ blasts ‘King Trump’s private army from the DHS’
Bruce Springsteen moved quickly to respond musically to a deadly incident in Minneapolis, releasing a protest song just days after Alex Pretti was killed by federal agents. The track, titled “Streets of Minneapolis,” takes direct aim at what Springsteen calls “Trump’s federal thugs” and includes a call for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to leave the city, according to Rolling Stone.
In a social media post on Wednesday, Springsteen said he “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.” He dedicated the song to the city’s residents, to “our innocent immigrant neighbors,” and in memory of Pretti and Renee Good.
The lyrics depict armed federal forces operating in Minneapolis, challenge official accounts that framed Pretti’s death as self-defense, and accuse Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem of spreading what the song calls “dirty lies.” In one verse, Springsteen sings, “There were bloody footprints where mercy should have stood / And two dead left to die on snow-filled streets — Alex Pretti and Renee Good.” Another lyric references the events as something that will be remembered: “Here in our home they killed and roamed in the winter of ’26.” He also describes the federal presence as “King Trump’s private army from the DHS.”
The release follows Springsteen’s surprise appearance last week at the Light of Day benefit concert in Red Bank, New Jersey. There, he strongly criticized ICE and condemned the killing of Good. Addressing the crowd, Springsteen said that if people oppose “heavily armed masked federal troops invading an American city” and using “Gestapo tactics against our fellow citizens,” they should demand that ICE leave Minneapolis.
“Streets of Minneapolis” deliberately echoes the title of Springsteen’s Oscar-winning 1994 song “Streets of Philadelphia” and continues his long history of politically themed music. What stands out, Rolling Stone notes, is the speed of its release. While Springsteen wrote the song “Roulette” less than a week after the Three Mile Island nuclear accident, that track remained unreleased for years.
Springsteen has been a vocal critic of President Trump since before the 2016 election, according to The Guardian. Trump has responded publicly by calling Springsteen a “pushy, obnoxious jerk” and “not a talented guy.”
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