Dropkick Murphys’ Ken Casey urges general strike and ICE shutdown following Minnesota killings
Dropkick Murphys frontman Ken Casey has joined a growing number of prominent names voicing sharp criticism of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where he has called for a general strike and for the department to be shut down.
The musician reportedly joined an anti-ICE rally being held by various united labour unions in Boston late last week, according to Working Mass, where he made calls for the department to be shut down following the recent killings in Minnesota.
“Hell yeah, abolish ICE. They’re coming door to door, going to people’s houses, snatching people off the street, taking people who are taking part in the immigration process the way they’re supposed to,” Casey said.
In light of the major immigration enforcement operation which has been ongoing in Minneapolis, and seen the killings of civilians Renee Good and Alex Pretti, the frontman added: “How do you show up and snatch someone when they’re showing up for their hearing?”
When asked what his thoughts on what the real motives for ICE are, he replied: “That just proves we’re not trying to establish any proper chain of immigration here. [They’re] just trying to basically get brown people off the street is what I think they’re trying to accomplish.”
However, in terms of how the current situation with the American government can be dealt with by the population, Casey was keen to make his opinion known.
He said: “I like to see the thought of a general strike because I think in the long run it might be our only way out of this mess… if you’re talking about the workers in the unions, that’s the infrastructure to be the tip of the spear to make the change to put forth the effort to mobilise.”
Casey’s criticism of ICE is far from a new development over the course of Donald Trump’s second term in power. He recently worked the Dropkick Murphys 2005 song ‘Citizen CIA’ to become ‘Citizen ICE’, which is set to be released via a forthcoming tour-only album with fellow Boston band Haywire.
Dropkick Murphys are currently getting ready for their upcoming US tour, where they will most likely perform the song in question when it kicks off on February 9th in Portland. They will then continue on the road throughout February and March, before culminating in a series of St Patrick’s Day residency shows in Boston.
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