Minneapolis Shooting Sparks Outrage, Springsteen Song, and FBI Investigation
The fatal shooting of two individuals in Minneapolis by federal immigration officers has ignited widespread outrage, inspiring a new song by Bruce Springsteen and prompting an FBI search of the Fulton County election office in Georgia. The incidents occurred against a backdrop of rising U.S. life expectancy and ongoing scrutiny of social media's role in identifying potentially flawed scientific research.
Alex Pretti and Renee Good were shot and killed by federal agents in Minneapolis less than three weeks apart, according to Time magazine. Springsteen dedicated his new song, "Streets of Minneapolis," to the victims and the city's immigrant community. In an Instagram post on Wednesday, Springsteen described the song as a tribute to "the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good." The song criticizes what Springsteen calls "King Trump's private army from the DHS," alleging they came to Minneapolis "to enforce the law, or so their story goes."
The shooting of Alex Pretti last Saturday particularly enraged many across the country, according to NPR News. While the specific details surrounding the shootings remain under investigation, the incidents have sparked debate, particularly in areas with strong support for former President Trump, according to NPR.
Meanwhile, in Georgia, the FBI conducted a search of the Fulton County election office outside of Atlanta on Wednesday, NPR News reported. The search warrant, according to the county, was for records related to the 2020 election. The FBI confirmed it was executing a "court authorized law enforcement action," but declined to provide further details. Last month, the Department of Justice announced it was suing Fulton County for records related to the 2020 election, a contest narrowly lost by President Trump in Georgia.
In other news, U.S. life expectancy reached a new high in 2024, according to a report released Thursday by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS), as reported by NPR News. An American born in 2024 can expect to live to age 79, on average, an increase of more than half a year from 2023. The rise is attributed to the nation's continued recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and a decline in deaths from drug overdoses.
Finally, research published in Nature News indicates that critical posts on social media platform X can serve as early warning signs of problematic scientific articles. Two large studies found that articles receiving substantial criticism on social media before retraction often have integrity issues. Er-Te Zheng, a PhD student at the University of Sheffield, UK, is studying whether social media platforms such as X could be used to identify integrity issues in articles.
Discussion
Join the conversation
Be the first to comment