Bruce Springsteen has called for ICE to “get the fuck out of Minneapolis” during a surprise appearance on stage in New Jersey.
The Boss has been a dedicated and longstanding critic of Donald Trump’s presidency, and when he appeared at the Light Of Day Winter Festival in his home state yesterday (January 17), he took the opportunity to renew his call for action against the administration.
Introducing ‘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,” he continued. “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.”
Turning his attention 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.”
As he began to play the ‘Darkness On The Edge Of Town’ track, he concluded: “This song is for you and the memory of a mother of three, American Renee Good.”
Good, 37, was fatally shot by ICE agent Jonathan Ross in Minneapolis on January 7. The killing has triggered mass protests across the country, with many, including Minneapolis mayor Jacob Frey and Minnesota governor Tim Walz, calling for ICE to end their presence in the city. Trump and many of his followers, meanwhile, have defended the shooting, saying the agent acted in self-defence.
Springsteen spoke about the ICE raids in Los Angeles last summer, saying: “There are communities all across America now that have taken in immigrants and migrant workers. So what’s going on at the moment to me is disgusting, and a terrible tragedy.”
He has also called for Trump to be impeached, saying he should be “consigned to the trash heap of history”, and has also described him as “corrupt, incompetent and treasonous”. In October, he endorsed the No Kings movement amid widespread national protests.
Trump has also hit back at the Boss, describing him as “highly overrated”, and a “pushy, obnoxious jerk”.
Elsewhere, the Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere was released last year, with The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White playing the musician. It received a four star review from NME which said: “What Deliver Me From Nowhere shows well is just how commercial success was a distant second to Springsteen – a man who had no choice but to rip those ‘Nebraska’ songs from his wounded heart.”
Director Scott Cooper recently said that Springsteen was keen on more potential films following the release of the biopic.
“There’s so many chapters in Bruce’s life, in all seriousness, that are quite right for cinematic treatment,” Cooper added. “That’s something quite honestly that Bruce and I have discussed. I think he really loves this film. He’s loved the experience.”
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