Streets of Minneapolis (4:02)
I’ve been furious since the shootings by ICE agents (United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement) in Minneapolis—especially since I first heard the song Springsteen wrote in the 24 hours after the killings of U.S. citizens Alex Pretti and Renée Good, then recorded and released just two days later. It landed like an emotional gut punch.
Renée Good was shot three times in the head from point blank range on January 7 while in her car and turning away from ICE agents. The head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension later disclosed that the FBI revoked their access to evidence related to the shooting—reversing an earlier understanding that the agencies would conduct a joint investigation. Leaders in the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division declined to open a constitutional investigation, prompting more than a dozen federal prosecutors in Minneapolis and Washington to resign in protest.
Video evidence and widely reported preliminary accounts indicate that on January 24, federal agents fired 10 shots in roughly five seconds killing Alex Pretti after he was pepper-sprayed, tackled, and pinned to the ground. Several shots were reportedly fired after he was no longer moving. DHS officials also reportedly prevented local police from entering the scene, even though the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension had a judge-signed warrant authorizing access.
Simply put: ICE agents killed two U.S. citizens in Minnesota and the government is actively preventing Minnesota from investigating – which is so egregious that federal prosecutors have resigned in protest!
On the day of its release, the song became the number-one trending song in the United States on YouTube, drawing more than 2.5 million views by day’s end—because it crystallized what so many of us have been carrying inside, and finally said it out loud. It made me want to join Springsteen in shouting about this injustice.
My grandparents were immigrants. And after the American Indians, we are all immigrants. The time for silence—out of fear of offending our friends, family or neighbors—has to end.
This is not a partisan issue! Decent people need to come together, stand up, and oppose what is not only morally repugnant, but increasingly threatens all of our rights. Enabling anonymous, armed, masked men to terrorize people indiscriminately based on how they look—or to strip away freedom of speech and dissent—is clearly wrong. Even one citizen harmed by this kind of brutality is one too many.
The casual acceptance of government-condoned or government-sponsored violence echoes aspects of Hitler’s Brown Shirts, who used intimidation and street violence to silence political opponents. I’ve always tried to understand how Germans allowed Hitler and his policies to take hold. If no one speaks out against inhumanity, barbarism wins. And lately, it feels like it’s gaining ground.
And this may still be just the beginning. In secret!
As WIRED reported: “Federal records obtained by WIRED magazine show that over the past several months, ICE and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have carried out a secret campaign to expand ICE’s physical presence across the US. Documents show that more than 150 leases and office expansions have or would place new facilities in nearly every state, many of them in or just outside of the country’s largest metropolitan areas.” (1) They are even concealing lease listings citing “national security concerns.”
Perhaps Springsteen’s song helped tip public opinion—helping spur the beginnings of ICE’s withdrawal from Minneapolis. If there’s any chance that’s true, and you feel the same way, please share this with others (and I usually never ask anyone to share anything.) People should not be shot for disagreeing with government policy.
Please excuse the length of this blog—these are desperate times.
Watch Springsteen’s YouTube video.
Dr. Weiss
Some information from Wikipedia
Excerpt From “ICE Is Expanding Across the US at Breakneck Speed. Here’s Where It’s Going Next”, Leah Feiger – WIRED https://apple.news/Ah6ObMEpdTjSS-1nA16EmCA This material may be protected by copyright.
Comments are closed.