Bruce Springsteen dedicates performance of song to woman killed by US immigration agents
'This song is for you and in memory of Renee Good, a mother of 3 and an American citizen,' rock star says in surprise appearance at New Jersey concert
ISTANBUL
US rock star Bruce Springsteen dedicated a performance of his song The Promised Land to 37-year-old American Renee Nicole Good, who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent earlier this month.
According to The New York Times, Springsteen made a surprise Saturday appearance at the Light of Day Winterfest in Red Bank, New Jersey, in the musician’s home state.
On US President Donald Trump’s controversial deployment of ICE agents to numerous US cities and the killing of Good, he said the US is going through an incredibly critical period and that the ideals and values the country has upheld for the past 250 years are being tested like never before.
Springsteen called on those who oppose heavily armed federal forces intervening in a city and those who object to people being killed for exercising their right to protest to send a message to Trump.
He dedicated the song, from his classic 1978 album Darkness on the Edge of Town, to Minneapolis, adding: “This song is for you and in memory of Renee Good, a mother of three and an American citizen.”
White House Deputy Press Secretary Abigail Jackson later said that no one cares about what she called Springsteen’s “bad political views.”
Jackson said that if he believes in the rule of law, Springsteen should accept that illegal immigrants should be deported, that federal operations are lawful, and that police have the right to self-defense if someone uses a vehicle as a weapon.
Polls have shown widespread opposition to the mass deployment of ICE agents to cities and their tactics, including going after US citizens and peaceful protesters.
Trump critics say the ICE raids ordered by Trump do not target the criminals, gang members, and “worst of the worst” he promised, but rather hardworking, law-abiding migrants who have been in the US for years or even decades.
They also point to extensive camera footage of the killing of Good showing that she was not using the car as a weapon when an ICE officer fired his gun into her car, shooting her four times.
