Protest researcher

More, from before.

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93% of Black Lives Matter Protests Have Been Peaceful, New Report Finds

SEPTEMBER 5

https://time.com/5886348/report-peaceful-protests/

The vast majority of Black Lives Matter protests—more than 93%—have been peaceful, according to a new report published Thursday by a nonprofit that researches political violence and protests across the world.

The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) analyzed more than 7,750 Black Lives Matter demonstrations in all 50 states and Washington D.C. that took place in the wake of George Floyd’s death between May 26 and August 22.

Their report states that more than 2,400 locations reported peaceful protests, while fewer than 220 reported “violent demonstrations.” The authors define violent demonstrations as including “acts targeting other individuals, property, businesses, other rioting groups or armed actors.” Their definition includes anything from “fighting back against police” to vandalism, property destruction looting, road-blocking using barricades, burning tires or other materials. In cities where protests did turn violent—these demonstrations are “largely confined to specific blocks,” the report says.

The ACLED report includes protests toppling statues of “colonial figures, slave owners and Confederate leaders” as violent incidents. “Since Floyd’s killing, there have been at least 38 incidents in which demonstrators have significantly damaged or torn down memorials around the country,” the report states.

Still, many people continue to believe that Black Lives Matter protests are largely violent—contrary to the report’s findings. ACLED highlights a recent Morning Consult poll in which 42% of respondents believe “most protesters (associated with the BLM movement) are trying to incite violence or destroy property.” ACLED suggests this “disparity stems from political orientation and biased media framing… such as disproportionate coverage of violent demonstrations.”

U.S.-based ACLED is funded by the State Department’s Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations as well as foreign governments and other organizations, including the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the German Federal Foreign Office, the Tableau Foundation, the International Organization for Migration, and The University of Texas at Austin. It relied on data collection from the U.S. Crisis Monitor—a joint project led by ACLED and Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative—that tracks and publishes real-time data on political violence and demonstrations in the U.S in order to “establish an evidence base from which to identify risks, hotspots and available resources to empower local communities in times of crisis.”

ACLED also highlights a “violent government response,” in which authorities “use force more often than not” when they are present at protests and that they “disproportionately used force while intervening in demonstrations associated with the BLM movement, relative to other types of demonstrations.” The report also references “dozens of car-ramming attacks” on protesters by various individuals, some of whom have ties to hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan.

ACLED warns in the report that the U.S. “is at heightened risk of political violence and instability going into the 2020 general election,” citing trends in mass shootings, violent hate crimes and police killings. The authors of the report say the Trump administration has exacerbated tensions caused by racial inequality and police brutality. President Donald Trump and high-ranking members of his administration have frequently generalized protesters as violent anarchists.

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Over 90 percent of protests this summer were peaceful, report shows

09/03/20

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/515082-over-90-percent-of-protests-this-summer-were-peaceful-report-shows

Despite several incidents of protests against racism and police brutality turning violent, more than 90 percent of the summer’s protests were peaceful, according to an analysis released Thursday.

The report, produced by the nonprofit Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, identified 7,750 protests between May 26 and Aug. 22 in 2,400 locations, according to The Washington Post.

The report found that about 220 became “violent” — a term defined as demonstrators fighting with police or with counterprotesters. The term also applies to demonstrations that resulted in property damage. In 93 percent of cases analyzed, there was no violence.

In the violent cases, the report said, violence was “largely confined to specific blocks, rather than dispersed throughout the city.”

Despite these findings, however, the authors warned that due to the environment of “violent political polarization” in the U.S., violence is likely to occur again if there are issues with the November election.

“In this hyper-polarized environment, state forces are taking a more heavy-handed approach to dissent, non-state actors are becoming more active and assertive, and counter-demonstrators are looking to resolve their political disputes in the street,” the authors wrote, according to the Post.

“Without significant mitigation efforts, these risks will continue to intensify in the lead-up to the vote, threatening to boil over in November if election results are delayed, inconclusive, or rejected as fraudulent,” they added.

Demonstrations erupted nationwide over police brutality and racial injustice after the killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man who died in Minneapolis Police custody in late May.

Protesters, advocates and lawmakers took to the streets in cities and towns all over the U.S. to demand police reform at the state and federal levels.

In late August, another Black American, Jacob Blake, was shot in the back seven times while trying to enter his vehicle in Kenosha, Wis. The man is currently paralyzed from the waist down.

Blake’s shooting once again sparked protests in Wisconsin and has led to violent clashes between protesters and counterprotesters. On the third night of demonstrations in Kenosha, two protesters were shot and killed and one was injured.

The report also suggested disproportionate police response had escalated tensions at protests. In about 10 percent of Black Lives Matter protests, law enforcement intervened, using force such as batons, rubber bullets or pepper spray in about half those cases.

“The heavy-handed police response appears to have inflamed tensions and increased the risk of violent escalation,” the report states, according to the Post.

“The escalating use of force against demonstrators comes amid a wider push to militarize the government’s response to domestic unrest, and particularly demonstrations perceived to be linked to left-wing groups like antifa, which the administration views as a ‘terrorist’ organization,” it added.

The Trump administration has come under fire after law enforcement deployed tear gas on protesters in Lafayette Square in Washington, D.C., earlier in the summer.

The report specifically cites the deployment of federal officers to Portland, Ore., as escalating already intense protests. Fewer than a quarter of Portland protests were met with force in May or June, compared to 40 percent in July and August. The number of violent demonstrations increased about 10 points, from 53 percent to 63 percent.

Reports surfaced in recent months that unmarked federal agents were grabbing protesters in Portland, Ore., and holding them in unmarked vehicles, sparking outrage from local lawmakers.