Springsteen Slams ICE 'Gestapo Tactics' at Surprise Show

Bruce Springsteen used a surprise home-state gig to sharply criticize the Trump administration's immigration crackdown and to honor the Minneapolis woman killed by an ICE agent, the New York Times reports. During an unbilled Saturday performance at the Light of Day Winterfest in Red Bank, New Jersey, Springsteen told the audience the country was in "incredibly critical times" and that American ideals were being tested as rarely before, according to videos shared online. He urged the crowd to oppose what he described as "heavily armed mass federal troops invading an American city using Gestapo tactics," and called on listeners to "send a message to this president" if they believe "you don't deserve to be murdered for exercising your American right to protest."

Springsteen then cited Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey's profane demand that ICE leave the city and dedicated his song "The Promised Land" to Renee Good. Authorities say Ross fired after Good drove toward him and then veered right; President Trump and administration officials have argued she had "weaponized her vehicle." Onstage, Springsteen called the performance of the song about a working-class man who dreams of a better life "for you, and the memory of mother of three and American citizen Renee Good." Variety notes the song is "one of his most enduring anthems and concert favorites." He introduced it, and his tribute to Good, by saying he wrote the song "as an ode to American possibility … both to the beautiful but flawed country that we are, and to the country that we could be." The day after the performance, Deadline reports, the Justice Department said it would not investigate Good's killing.

The White House quickly pushed back. Spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said no one cares about Springsteen's "bad political opinions" and argued that someone who truly believed in the rule of law would support deporting "criminal illegal aliens," oppose interference with federal operations, and recognize that officers can act in self-defense against a car used as a "deadly weapon." The clash is the latest in a long-running feud: Springsteen has previously labeled Trump the "most dangerous candidate for president in my lifetime," accused his administration of trampling civil rights, and released a politically charged EP calling the government "corrupt, incompetent, and treasonous." Trump has responded by telling the musician to "KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT" and demanding investigations into him and other celebrities.