“The murder of Alex Pretti was horrifically shocking, all the more so as we are still reeling from the images of the murder of Renee Good. That these crimes can be committed in broad daylight, on camera and yet no one is held accountable only adds to the injustice,” said Billy Bragg, the renowned English singer-song writer, guitarist, and working-class activist, also known as the “Bard of Barking.”

“I wrote this song yesterday [January 27, 2026] 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 harm’s way to defend their community. Their resistance is an inspiration to us all,” Bragg continued.

Bragg made these remarks when he released his song “City of Heroes” on January 28. The same day U.S. rock singer Bruce Springsteen released Streets of Minneapolis, a similar protest song.

Such marvelous songs by these well-known artists indicate the growing resonance in the United States and the world over of the working-class resistance in Minnesota to the terror by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol thugs unleashed on the U.S. population by the Trump administration.

We publish below for the information of our readers the link to the YouTube video and the lyrics of Bragg’s “City of Heroes,” as they appeared in the original.

— World-Outlook editors

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CITY OF HEROES Lyrics

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, England

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

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