After the first I.C.E. murder of Renée Good on January 7, 2026, many local musicians were affected by this and wrote protest songs, which The Current compiled (includes Bathtub Cig’s song – which we heard live recently).

Now, with the second execution of Alex Pretti on January 24, it’s gone beyond politics… it’s a question of morality and justice. The massive spotlight on Minneapolis, the entire world is against this thuggery. Happy to see so many musicians standing up against fascism, by speaking out or sending a message through their songs. Thank you for standing with Minnesota.

NOTE: This is not a complete list, I’m sure there will be more songs coming up soon. Please let me know, and if there are enough, I will follow up with a part two.

Streets Of Minneapolis by Bruce Springsteen (Jan 28, 2026)

Bruce Springsteen

Thanks to the Boss, Bruce Springsteen, for answering the call to stand with Minnesota. His song, “Streets of Minneapolis”, was written and dedicated to the people of Minneapolis. At the heart of it, it’s a protest song, and I think was deliberately done in the style of Bob Dylan (who was originally a Minnesota musicians).

Lyrics:

Through the winter’s ice and cold
Down Nicollet Avenue
A city aflame fought fire and ice
‘Neath an occupier’s boots
King Trump’s private army from the DHS
Guns belted to their coats
Came to Minneapolis to enforce the law
Or so their story goes
Against smoke and rubber bullets
By the dawn’s early light
Citizens stood for justice
Their voices ringing through the night
And there were bloody footprints
Where mercy should have stood
And two dead left to die on snow-filled streets
Alex Pretti and Renee Good

Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
Here in our home they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis

Trump’s federal thugs beat up on
His face and his chest
Then we heard the gunshots
And Alex Pretti lay in the snow, dead
Their claim was self defense, sir
Just don’t believe your eyes
It’s our blood and bones
And these whistles and phones
Against Miller and Noem’s dirty lies

Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Crying through the bloody mist
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis

Now they say they’re here to uphold the law
But they trample on our rights
If your skin is black or brown my friend
You can be questioned or deported on sight

In chants of ICE out now
Our city’s heart and soul persists
Through broken glass and bloody tears
On the streets of Minneapolis

Oh our Minneapolis, I hear your voice
Singing through the bloody mist
Here in our home they killed and roamed
In the winter of ’26
We’ll take our stand for this land
And the stranger in our midst
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis
We’ll remember the names of those who died
On the streets of Minneapolis

All your favorite bands hate fascism (January 23, 2026)
photo by Jim Walsh

Billy Bragg

Our favorite English protest singer, Billy Bragg, wrote “City Of Heroes”, after seeing the two murders in broad daylight and no one is held accountable for their actions.

Bragg writes, with lyrics:

I wrote this song yesterday as a tribute to the bravery of the people of Minneapolis who, knowing that these trigger happy ICE thugs operate with seeming impunity in their midst, are still willing to put themselves in harms way to defend their community. Their resistance is an inspiration to us all.

CITY OF HEROES

The ghost of Martin Niemöller
Haunts the halls of history
When they came for the communists
He said “It’s nothing to do with me”

When they came for the democrats
He had nothing to say
And when they came for the Jews
He just looked the other way

His silence didn’t save him
When they came for him as well
There was no one to speak out for him
Resistance had been quelled

What excuses would you tell yourself
If this ever happened to you?
Well I live in a city of heroes
I know what I would do

When they came for the immigrants
I got in their face
When they came for the refugees
I got in their face
When they came for the five-year-olds
I got in their face
When they came to my neighbourhood
I just got in their face

They use tear gas and pepper spray
Against our whistles and our phones
But in this city of heroes
We will protect our home
When they dragged people from their cars
I got in their face
When they took families from their homes
I got in their face
When they murdered our sister
I got in their face
When they murdered our brother
I still got in their face

In Dachau Martin Niemöller
Suffered for his complicity
But in this city of heroes
We learn the lessons of history

I will bear witness to terror
I will bear witness to tyranny
I will bear witness to murder
I will bear witness to fascism

Words and Music by Billy Bragg

Engineered, recorded and mixed by Jamie Parker at Echo Town Studio, Dorset

Image taken on the streets of Minneapolis on Friday 23rd January 2026 by Jim Walsh

ICE by Waterparks (January 27, 2026)

Waterparks

Houston’s Waterparks wrote and recorded “ICE” a few days ago. The band was last seen in Minneapolis in 2023.

You can hear the anger in their lyrics.

F**k Trump
F**k ICE
Everyone involved
Everyday is closer to the fall.
F**k Trump
F**k ICE
Everyone involved
Everyday is closer to the fall.

This ain’t even politics
This is f**king war
They’re killing your neighbors
Kicking down our doors
So are you gonna wait
Until they show up at your place
Or are we stepping to the White House gates?

We do not negotiate with terrorists
There’s more of us than them
And so they’re scared of us.
We do not negotiate with terrorists
There’s more of us than them
And so they’re scared of us.

It’s America vs Donald Trump
He could get the worst
It would never be enough
So how much f**king blood
Does it really f**king cost
To protect the pedophile
Sitting at the top?
F**k ICE
F**k ICE
F**k ICE
F**k ICE
F**k ICE
Bitch

They’ll say, “I was just doing what I’m told.”
ICE about to get real cold.
Follow orders into hell
Burn for every sin that you earned yourself.

Doxx every f**king agent
Ready when they knock
Say they don’t need papers
Live above the law
Put you on the pavement
Break your f**king jaw
Protect your f**king neighbors
Before everybody’s gone.

Every time we get too loud with the truth
A city gets a thousand more troops
I know the future don’t seem too bright
But everything screams right before it dies.

Why is it a “national security risk”
To know all the names on the list?
MAGA stare at shadows, and imagine and squint
While ignoring real shit that exists.

F**k ‘em.

Tom Morello and Rise Against at First Ave (January 30, 2026)

Briefly

Just briefly, but some protestors were chanting “No ICE! No KKK! No fascist USA!”, which was adopted the The Stains’ chant “No war! No KKK! No fascist USA!” (from their song “Born to Die”), and Green Day’s modified/updated from “No Trump! No KKK! No Fascist USA!” Green Day updated their song “American Idiot” to include “I’m not a part of a MAGA agenda”, which we heard live in July 2025.

The Black Panthers, who started in 1966 and dissolved in the ‘80s… they re-activated in January 2026 after seeing the injustice of the killing of Renee Good.

Jesse Welles wrote “Good vs ICE” and “Join ICE” protest songs. Given his track record, it might not be long before we see a song about Alex Pretti.

Morgan Wade, Carter Faith, Ludacris have pulled out of Kid Rock’s MAGA-associated festival Rock the Country.

Rage Against the Machine’s guitarist and activist Tom Morello announced a last-minute benefit concert at First Avenue to take place tomorrow, January 30. Guests includes Morello, Rise Against, Al Di Meola, Ike Reilly, and a surprised special guest.

Tom Morello writes:

See you THIS FRIDAY JAN 30 for a concert of solidarity & resistance to DEFEND MINNESOTA! Tickets are $25 each and are on sale now at the link in bio. EARLY SHOW! DOORS 10:30 AM!

If it looks like fascism, sounds like fascism, acts like fascism, dresses like fascism, talks like fascism, kills like fascism and lies like fascism, boys & girls it’s f*cking fascism. It’s here, it’s now, it’s in my city, it’s in your city and it must be resisted, protested, defended against, stood up to, exposed, ousted, overthrown and driven out. By you and by me. We are coming to Minneapolis where the people have heroically stood up against ICE, stood up against Trump, stood up against this terrible rising tide of state terror. Where the people have stood up for their neighbors and themselves, for democracy and justice. Ain’t nobody coming to save us except us and it’s now or never.

100% of proceeds go to the families of those murdered by ICE in Minneapolis Renee Good and Alex Pretti

Update

Midwest born singer songwriter Michael Shynes released a demo of “We’re From Minnesota” on January 26. We last mentioned he played the Basilica Block Party in July 2019.

The lyrics pretty much sums it up – just leave Minnesota alone.

We’re from Minnesota
So, we don’t really need ya
Brother, we got our own damn police
They don’t hit women
They don’t take children
And they don’t shoot people dead in the street

We don’t hide our faces here
We’ll buy a stranger a beer
And then talk like we’ve known em for years
We’re from Minnesota
And we don’t wanna hold ya
So, pack your sh*t and get the f**k out of here

Left right left and walk away from all the damage
Left right left we’ll clean the mess up we can manage
Take your Homan and Noem man and Little Bovino
Have em bet it all on white at the Trump Casino

You tried to bring your hate here
But hate doesn’t stay here
So go find some miserable place
Where they see all their problems
And everything they’ve done wrong
In the shape of a black or brown face

We’re MIN-NES-OTA we’ll find our way

Everlast (ex-House of Pain) released “Blood on the Wheel (F**k ICE)” (featuring WLPWR as producer) on January 27, 2026. While the song doesn’t explicitly mentioned ICE, the “blood on the wheel” is a reference to Renee Good superimposed over violent clashes of ICE vs protesters. Unfortunately, I can’t embed the video due to age restrictions (the violent footage probably got flagged by YouTube to restrict it). If you have a YouTube account, you can view it.

Lyrics

Blood on the wheel

Blood on the seat
Blood on the hands of all the ones that lie

Storms a comin’
Best to get to runnin’
Well stand your ground once the bullets fly

They call me big poppa cause I’m ready to die
When you meet your maker, you can ask him why
They call me big poppa cause I’m ready to die

They’ll kill your momma
They’ll kill your daughter
They’ll kill your wife and your auntie and your sister too

Now they don’t care none
Badges they don’t wear none
But soon enough we’ll all be shooting back at you
There really ain’t a f**king thing you can do
We got way more guns we got way more goons

If we stand our ground when the bullets fly
They call me big poppa cause I’m ready to die
When you meet your maker, you can ask him why
They call me big poppa cause I’m ready to die
They call me big poppa cause I’m ready to die
They call me big poppa cause I’m ready to die

You’ve better be f**kin’ ready
You better wake up
If you think this sh*t’s f**kin’ just some social media shit
You ain’t paying attention
Three things are true
Number one the black community told us this shit for years, we didn’t listen
Number two ICE is a white supremacist’s wet dream
Number three the government’s not going to save you.

Peacelands by My Morning Jacket (January 29, 2026)

My Morning Jacket

Louisville’s My Morning Jacket, led by vocalist/guitarist Jim James, put together Peacelands compilation of rare/unreleased songs on Thursday. The charity album was dedicated to the people of Minnesota, and proceeds from the album will be donated to various organizations.

Message from Jim James

We stand with the people of Minnesota and everywhere else affected by the horrors of ICE brutality and lack of human decency or transparency from this administration.

There is room for everyone to be safe and free and at home in this vast world and we need to find a new path together to safe and humane immigration policy and reform rooted in peace and love… safety and equality… and new systems of fairness, freedom, and transparent justice for all.

ALL PROCEEDS from “Peacelands,” an album of mostly unreleased, acoustic peaceful protest songs – some covers and some of my own – that we released today exclusively on @bandcamp, will go to organizations like @aclu_nationwide fighting for our safety and freedoms here at home, as well as @doctorswithoutborders and @rescueorg – organizations working hard to help heal the horrors of war and terror around the globe… working around the clock to help move us all towards “Peacelands.”

Artwork artist is unknown and comes from a handmade wood carving I found years ago at a second hand store in Missoula called Circle Square.

-Jim James
☮️🙏💟

Minnesota Nazis by NOFX (January 29, 2026)

NOFX

San Francisco’s punk band NOFX had to update their “Huntington Beach Nazis” song to reflect the times, as “Minnesota Nazis.” While they added new lyrics like “Why do they cover their white faces when they’re shooting friendly white, unarmed lesbians in the face?”, they still kept ‘beaches’ from the original song.

Singer Fat Mike wrote:

I wrote a song called ‘Huntington Beach Nazis’ in 2022 when I spent 6 sober weeks there. There’s actually an intersection of Rhein and Heil streets. Kinda weird…. anyway, after all the recent heartbreaks in Minnesota, I decided to change some lyrics in the song and release it digitally. I even changed the title of the song to ‘Minnesota Nazis.’ I reckon it’s appropriate. This song isn’t gonna stop the absolute madness…. but you do what you can to make this world a better place. Let’s look out for each other the best we can. Love > Hate….. even though it doesn’t seem like it right now….

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