US police officers are three times more likely to use force during left wing protests, Black Lives Matter demonstrations being among them, than those conducted by right wing groups, such as pro-Trump rallies, The Guardian reported on Thursday, citing new data from the US Crisis Monitor nonprofit organization
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th January, 2021) US police officers are three times more likely to use force during left wing protests, Black Lives Matter demonstrations being among them, than those conducted by right wing groups, such as pro-Trump rallies, The Guardian reported on Thursday, citing new data from the US Crisis Monitor nonprofit organization.
According to the data based on over 13,000 protest actions in the US in 2020, US police used teargas, pepper spray and rubber bullets at a much higher percentage on left wing demonstrators than at rightwing rallies.
The media outlet noted, citing the statistics, that the vast majority of protests in the US last year were peaceful.
At the same time, police used force against demonstrators at 511 left wing protests and 33 right wing protests since April 2020. When taking into account the number of protest actions, the data revealed that police used force at about 4.7 percent of left wing protests and 1.4 percent of right wing protests.
A wave of civil rights protests swept through the United States throughout the summer following the death of George Floyd, an African American male, in the custody of US law enforcement officers in the state of Minnesota in late May.
A series of African American deaths caused by police has brought into question the basic principles of the US law enforcement agencies and judiciary system, and has exposed incidents of racism in treating unarmed African-American suspects. According to the Black Lives Matter movement, which was founded back in 2013, African American communities in the US suffer from violence and abuse caused by the state.
In addition to the protests against police brutality, in 2020 the US saw a wave of rallies against restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and protests related to the results of the November presidential election.
