Putting "Protests 93 Percent Peaceful" Into Some Context :: 09/08/2020

Over the last few months, “protests” have come to dominate the news cycle. I put it in quotation marks because it wasn’t really the protests in and of themselves that made headlines. Instead, it was the riots that sprang from some of those protests that made the news.

In truth, that makes sense. Protests get a blurb and then we move on. Riots, especially riots that continue for months, tend to leave a much more lasting impact.

However, thankfully, we have someone to come and tell us how little of an issue those riots actually are.

About 93% of racial justice protests in the US since the death of George Floyd have been peaceful and nondestructive, according to a new report.

The findings, released Thursday, contradict assumptions and claims by some that protests associated with the Black Lives Matter movement are spawning violence and destruction of property.

The report was produced by the US Crisis Project, a joint effort by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED) and the Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI) at Princeton University, which collects and analyzes real-time data on demonstrations and political violence in the US.

“These data reveal that the United States is in crisis,” the report’s authors wrote. “It faces a multitude of concurrent, overlapping risks — from police abuse and racial injustice, to pandemic-related unrest and beyond — all exacerbated by increasing polarization.”

The ACLED recorded more than 10,600 demonstrations across the US between May 24 and August 22, most of which were peaceful.

About 7,750 of those protests were linked to the Black Lives Matter movement, the report states. Peaceful racial justice protests took place in more than 2,440 locations across all 50 states and Washington, DC — violent demonstrations occurred in fewer than 220 locations, according to the report.

Now, the report itself doesn’t make light of the numbers, but a lot of people on social media have take that seven percent number as proof that these are “mostly peaceful.”

However, it’s probably a good idea to put that number in perspective.

To start with, seven percent means that one in 14 protests erupt in violence. Considering there are protests going on pretty much nightly in the United States right now, that means we’re looking at a riot every two weeks on average. Think about that for a moment and let it really sink it. A riot every two weeks.

Sure, it doesn’t seem that way, but mostly because we’re getting riots in clusters, but the average remains.

To put this in perspective, just six percent of people who died from COVID-19 were killed solely from the virus itself, and that’s just the people who get the disease. If you look at the overall population, the odds of a healthy person dying from the coronavirus becomes practically nil, yet we still have to wear masks and many people can’t even attend church in their states, yet this is such a pressing concern we have no choice but to intervene in all aspects of American life.

Yet, it’s still less than the percentage of protests that turn violent, and I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt that they’re accurately determining which protests become violent and which ones don’t.

Here’s another bit of perspective for you, though it’s more speculative.

Let’s say a study released said that seven percent of all NRA members turned violent. What do you think we’d see in the media? What if it were seven percent of all concealed carry permit holders?

Obviously, this would be the most horrible thing every and proof that no one should ever have a gun. Yes, I know, it’s whataboutism at its finest, but everyone reading this knows it to be true as well. I mean, despite being the most law-abiding citizens in the country, gun owners are often vilified as dangerous psychopaths in the making as it is. Imagine if a study found this many were actually killers.

Of course, that’s never going to happen because we’re not.

However, one in 14 protests turn violent while the media and the left try to vilify anyone who tries to do anything about it.

Tom Knighton is a Navy veteran, a former newspaperman, a novelist, and a blogger and lifetime shooter. He lives with his family in Southwest Georgia. He's also the host of Unloaded TV on YouTube. https://bearingarms.com/author/tomknighton/

https://bearingarms.com/tom-k/2020/09/08/putting-protests-93-percent-peaceful-into-some-context/