U.S. Faces A ‘Perfect Storm’ Of Political Violence Heading Into November Election
Law enforcement and other authorities used force while intervening in nearly 400 Black Lives Matter protests since police killed George Floyd in May, according to new data that paints the clearest portrait yet of the historic unrest that’s swept across the U.S. this summer.
Figures from the U.S. Crisis Monitor offer a bleak forecast of escalating political violence heading into a contentious election. While most of the protests have been nonviolent, police or other authorities intervened in about 725 Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S. between May 24 and Aug. 22, sometimes using force — including tear gas, rubber bullets, or beating demonstrators with batons, data shows. There were also over 100 instances of government violence directed against the media during this period.
On top of that, the Crisis Monitor ― a joint effort of the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, a nongovernmental organization, and the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton University ― identified over 100 instances of non-state actors, including at least 20 distinct far-right militia groups, intervening in Black Lives Matter demonstrations, sometimes violently, since May 24.
There were also dozens of cases of individual perpetrators, some linked to white supremacist groups like the KKK, driving vehicles into Black Lives Matter demonstrators.
And things could get worse.
“I think we have all of the pieces at hand to make a perfect storm, so to speak, as we march closer and closer to the election,” said Dr. Roudabeh Kishi, the director of research and innovation for ACLED’s U.S. Crisis Monitor.
There were nearly 11,000 demonstrations in the U.S. between May 24 and Aug. 22 ― accompanied by terrifying instances of state repression, including the violent removal of protesters outside the White House to make room for a presidential photo-op, and the abduction of protesters by federal agents into unmarked vans driving around Portland, Oregon. There have also been...
