The singer wrote and recorded “Streets of Minneapolis” within days of the shooting of Alex Pretti by federal immigration agents.
WASHINGTON — Bruce Springsteen has released a new protest song written and recorded within days of the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti by federal agents in Minneapolis, sharply criticizing the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement strategies.
The song, “Streets of Minneapolis,” was released Wednesday and is dedicated to the city, immigrants, Pretti and Renee Good, who was also killed during a recent federal immigration operation.
“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 said. “It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good. Stay free.”
The partly acoustic track builds into a full-band arrangement and includes a chant that says, “ICE out of Minneapolis.” In the lyrics, Springsteen describes “a city aflame” under what he calls an occupation, referring to federal agents as “King Trump’s private army from the DHS.”
The song directly names the Pretti and Good, with Springsteen singing, “There were bloody footprints where mercy should have stood, and two dead left to die on snow-filled streets, Alex Pretti and Renee Good.”
The track closes with a call to remember them and to “take our stand for this land and the stranger in our midst.”
The title is reminiscent of Springsteen’s Oscar-winning 1994 song “Streets of Philadelphia,” written for the film “Philadelphia,” which was about the AIDS epidemic.
Throughout his career, Springsteen has frequently used music to respond to political and social issues, like with the songs “American Skin (41 Shots)” and “We Take Care of Our Own.”
This release follows Springsteen’s recent public comments condemning federal immigration actions. Earlier this month, he made a surprise appearance at a benefit concert in New Jersey, where he dedicated a song to Good and urged federal agents to leave Minneapolis. During that performance, he said the country’s core values were being tested and criticized the use of masked federal officers in American cities.
“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 has never been in modern times. Those values and those ideals have never been as in danger as they are right now,” Springsteen said.
The White House responded at the time by defending the actions of federal agents and dismissing Springsteen’s comments as being “bad.”
Over the years, the singer songwriter has spoken out against Trump.
In spring 2025, Springsteen and Trump got into a back-and-forth spat after the rocker called the president “incompetent” and “corrupt.” In response, Trump called Springsteen a “dried out prune of a rocker.”
