Floyd died in Minneapolis on May 25, following an altercation with police officers. Floyd, who was African American, was killed when a white police officer appeared to kneel on his neck as he lay on the ground during an arrest.

Officer Derek Chauvin has since been fired and charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter. Three other invovled officers; Thomas Lane, Tou Thao and J Alexander Keung are now all facing charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder, and aiding and abetting second-degree manslaughter. Since Floyd’s death, protests have erupted in the US and around the world.

Springsteen opened his show with ‘American Skin (41 Shots)’ – an eight minute song Springsteen wrote in response to the killing of Amadou Diallo in 1999, an unarmed Guinean immigrant shot dead by four New York City police officers.

Something useful if you are looking to be active during these critical times. -Bruce https://t.co/XqoTFGtS3B

— Bruce Springsteen (@springsteen) June 2, 2020

“The Birmingham Movement was organized by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to bring attention to the integration efforts of African-Americans in Birmingham, Alabama,” Springsteen said. “Their confrontations between young black students and white civic authorities led to the municipal government changing discrimination laws and was part of the broader movement toward civil rights that changed the face of the nation.

Volume 5: American Skin – An important excerpt from the latest episode of Bruce’s E Street Radio on @SiriusXM. pic.twitter.com/csHj6PeWNY

— Bruce Springsteen (@springsteen) June 4, 2020

“Now almost 60 years later, we wake again to an America who burned our buildings, torched police cars and shattered shop windows. The cost that we’re paying for another half of a century of unresolved fundamental issues of race. We have not cared for our house very well. There can be no standing peace without the justice owed to every American regardless of their race, color or creed. The events of this week have once again proven that out.

“We need systemic changes in our law enforcement departments and in the political will of our national citizenry to once again move forward to the kind of changes that will bring the ideals of the Civil Rights movement once again to life and into this moment.”

Other songs Springsteen played in tribute to Floyd included Childish Gambino’s ‘This Is America’, Kanye West’s ‘Who Will Survive in America’, Bob Dylan’s ‘Murder Most Foul’ and Bob Marley’s ‘Burnin’ and Lootin’.