Analyzing 400+ reports of police brutality at the George Floyd Protests
“I said she’s only three, I’m not even here for the protest. We got gassed out of our vehicle. And he dead looked at my daughter and [threw] the canister in front of her, and it exploded in front of her face.” This is a quote from Mechell Hensler, the mother of a three-year-old child who was tear gassed by police during the George Floyd protests.
This account is just one of more than four hundred reports of police brutality stemming from the protests across the United States. As protests continue across the nation, the subreddit r/2020PoliceBrutality has sprung into action making sure these stories do not go unheard. This data is important legal evidence, but it also provides us insight into the tactics used by police that are actively harming our community.
Early Warning Signs
The first protests started on May 26th. A description from one of the three reported cases on that day reads “Police hit press in neck and head with wooden baton.” Even though the first day had only a handful of reported cases of police brutality, the cases that were reported foreshadow two themes that would emerge over the next few weeks: attacks on the press and violent usage of riot control tactics on peaceful protestors.
Note: Some cases involve multiple forms of police brutality and are tagged with multiple weapons. The vast majority (about 75%) only have one weapon tag, about 23% only had two tags, and the remaining 2% had three tags.
Protests Go National
While protests occurred in all 50 states and several countries, police violence at the protests varied dramatically. In total, 38 of those 50 states had reports of police brutality. While New York, Seattle, and Minneapolis had the most reports, other cities stand out as well. The 4th city by number of reports was Columbus Ohio, which had more cases than much larger cities like Philadelphia and Atlanta. In total, 105 US cities had at least one reported incident of police brutality.
Violent Methods
The reports of police brutality come in all shapes and sizes, from property destruction (13 cases) to putting protestors in illegal chokeholds (6 cases). Of the reported cases of police brutality, the vast majority (85%) involve violence against peaceful protestors. Although a few of the cases involve police hiding badges or arresting members of the press, cases involving police violently striking protestors with batons and pepper spray in full view of the public demonstrates a clear disregard for the value of human life and dignity.
While most of the police violence cases involved tear gas, physical assaults, or shooting non-lethals, some attacks fell far outside the realm of “riot control tactics used on peaceful protestors.” Six attacks involved officers ramming into protestors with police cruisers or SUVs. There were also reports of tasers (2 cases) and stun guns (1 case) being used.
No one is exempt from police violence. Tragically, thirty of the reported cases involve innocent bystanders, including four cases of violence against medics and two absolutely horrific cases of young children being tear gassed.
When Numbers Aren’t Enough
Each one of these data points represents a real person being treated inhumanely by the very officers that have sworn to protect them. After looking at these numbers, its important to remember and reflect on what each of these cases represents.
“When I started sitting on the ground, that’s when they started to Mace me. When I wouldn’t move, that’s when the cops kicked me. I fell to the ground (from a seated position). They used that opportunity when my hands were away from my eyes to continue to Mace me directly in the face.” Erie, Pennsylvania.
“You heard us yelling that we were media.. but they don’t care. They are being indiscriminate at the moment.” Washington, DC.
“And there are so many people beating me. I see one of them drop his baton, pick it back up, and then he keeps beating me… I was just scared out of this world. It’s like a feeling of fear that you never had before.” Louisville, Kentucky.
“One young black female took a step off (the curb) and the cop kind of took that, I guess, ‘sideways.’ Instantly, a white man kind of came to her defense and then was instantly body-slammed to the ground. The congresswoman runs out into the street to hold back the cop and the protesters. Another cop comes up with his bike and pushes the congresswoman out of the way … and then it’s naturally getting heated … that one cop pulls, I don’t know why he does it, he pulls out his Mace and does what he does.” Columbus, Ohio.
Fight for change
I believe in an America in which protestors can demonstrate peacefully without fear of retribution. The unparalleled violence against protestors this month demonstrates how far our policing institutions have fallen from the goal of protecting our citizens. Keep protesting, keep fighting for change, and keep marching for justice.
- Donate and support Campaign Zero, and contact your local, state and federal representatives to reform police.
- Report any police violence that you have seen at protests here!
- Follow the r/2020PoliceBrutality subreddit and keep sharing police misconduct evidence on social media. I have put together a website where you can see and share this data more easily here: fightforjustice2020.com
- Feel free to make your own models and graphics with the data. The raw data can be found on the r/2020PoliceBrutality GitHub. The tagged data I used is in this google sheet.
Disclaimer: This data is not exhaustive and is growing as more cases get reported daily. This data was collected, reported and tagged by hand. If you notice any mistakes in the data or in any of the graphics please comment so I can update the data and make sure it is accurate. The legal definition of Police Brutality is ‘a civil rights violation where officers exercise undue or excessive force against a subject,’ which can include harassment (including false arrest), intimidation, and verbal abuse, among other forms of mistreatment.
Thank you to Monica for proof-reading, Siegrid and u/gomental for tagging data, and to the r/2020PoliceBrutality subreddit for collecting and documenting cases!
