Bruce Springsteen has dedicated the latest episode of his SiriusXM radio show to George Floyd, the man who died at the hands of four police officers in Minneapolis and whose death subsequently caused worldwide outrage and protests.
He played his song ‘American Skin (41 Shots)’, which is anchored in themes of police brutality, and made a note that the song lasts for eight minutes.
“Eight minutes. That song is almost eight minutes long. And that’s how long it took George Floyd to die, with a Minneapolis police officer’s knee buried into his neck,” Springsteen said after the song played, according to Variety.
“And that’s a long time. And that’s how long he begged for help and said he couldn’t breathe. The arresting officer’s response was nothing but silence and wait. Then he had no pulse, and still it went on.”
He went on to give a sombre dedication of the song to a myriad of cities across America and the memory of Floyd.
“That goes out to Seattle, to New York, to Miami, to Atlanta, to Chicago, to Dallas, to Philadelphia, to Washington, to Los Angeles, to Asbury Park, to Minneapolis and to the memory of George Floyd,” he said.
“May he rest in peace. As we speak, 40 million people are unemployed. One hundred thousand-plus citizens have died from COVID-19, with only the most tepid and unfeeling response from our White House. As of today, our black citizens continue to be killed unnecessarily by our police on the streets of America. And as of this broadcast, the country was on fire and in chaos.”
There are a bunch of protests happening across Australia in support of the Black Lives Movement, and protesting Indigenous deaths in police custody, this weekend. Check out that information here.
